Autumn Flowers for an Indian Summer

Despite storms and recent unusually warm temperatures, Autumn flowers have arrived in perfect condition at Neill’s Belgravia boutique and the concession at Harrods. In this mont’s blog post, Neill tells us how his growers deal with difficult weather conditions and he shares the beauty of the season’s blooms detailed in the stunning designs he has created for his online Autumn Collection 2019.

What a strange summer we’ve had! From cold temperatures and flooding to tropical heat waves and thunderstorms. yet who is affected by this just as much as us humans, if not more so? Our flowers…

"Eaton" designs for Autumn 2019 by Neill Strain Floral Couture "Lowndes" designs for Autumn 2019 by Neill Strain Floral Couture

Our growers are surprising us every year with their remarkable talent to expand the season. Through their great ingenuity, they are able to make flowers bloom weeks if not months earlier than expected and extend the duration of their availability for much longer than Mother Nature originally intended. All this through the careful creation of suitable weather conditions in the glasshouses where the flowers are grown. Even when the weather has behaved as erratically as it has done this year, our growers - through their extraordinary, almost magical powers - seem to manage the successful growth of their plants and thus provide us with exceptional flowers unscathed by the changing temperatures and rainfall. This victory is nevertheless not without challenges…

"Motcomb" designs for Autumn 2019 by Neill Strain Floral Couture "Halkin" designs for Autumn 2019 by Neill Strain Floral Couture

Hot temperatures bring out the bugs as we all know. For flowers growing outdoors this is obviously problematic, however it is also an issue for those growing indoors in the glasshouses as the bugs nevertheless manage to find their way inside. Furthermore, hot temperatures end with thunderstorms and heavy downpours which can destroy entire crops of outdoor flowers such as Delphiniums and Dahlias. Regardless of the weather, every late August there is an apocalyptic onslaught of bugs. During the summer months the bugs live in the wheat fields but after the wheat is harvested they are forced to search for a new source of food and head to the flower fields and glasshouses. Beyond the challenge of bugs, Dahlias also suffer from dehydration. During a heat wave the outdoor Dahlias are thirsty because, given the large number of big leaves on a Dahlia stem, these magnificent blooms require a great deal of water to remain fully hydrated.

Despite the challenges of these hot conditions and thanks to our growers’ talents and dedication, I am delighted to share with you the wonderful Autumnal blooms that we now have on display in perfect condition at the Belgravia boutique and at our Harrods concession alongside our Autumn Collection of designs that are available online.

Autumn is all about textures: grasses, berries, fruits, seed-heads and big-headed blooms, not to mention the colourful foliage. In Autumn we can create designs that are incredibly rich in textures and colour palettes, more so than in any other season. Fluffy blooms of Celosia in bright colours, feathery stems of bushy or dainty grasses, lush and glossy Viburnum berries or spiky branches of Celastrus, ambrosial fruits like Malus and Rubus, woolly seed-heads of Nigella… the textures of all these glories add depth and intrigue to our designs while manifesting the celebration of the harvest season.

Autumnal foliage Pennisetum Viridescens Oak leaves Miscanthus Memory Light Malus "Red Sentinel" Celastrus and Rozenbottle "Fair Jewel" Symphoricarpos "Magic Lemon Lime" Pennisetum Redhead

The “big-headed blooms” that most excite me in Autumn are Dahlias, Hydrangeas and Chrysanthemums. Stems are tall, colours are intense, flower and petal shapes are more and more unusual while the head sizes get bigger and bigger. Here are some of my favourites Dahlias.

Additionally, here are some Hydrangeas and one of the new Chrysanthemums “Vienna Copper” that is quite spectacular and a favourite for this Autumn.

Come and visit our Belgravia boutique or our concession at Harrods and see all the fabulous designs we create freshly every day for you with these extraordinary flowers, all selected and picked especially for us by our fabulous growers.

here. In each range we offer four designs in varying sizes: a hand-tied bouquet, a low table arrangement, a tall display and our signature Petite Couture designs.

To enhance the experience of these stunning flowers, we recommend our Autumn-inspired fragranced candle, Cassis Noir, which you can order here and we will ship it free of charge anywhere in the U.K. and Ireland.

Neill x