Christmas daffodils at the Olympic Park, Stratford

When I heard that there were confused daffodils at the Olympic Park, who had taken the cold spell earlier in the autumn to be winter and the warm November to be spring, I really wanted to see them. I kept meaning to go to the Olympic Park whenever I see photos of the beautiful summer flowers there, but I never went. Well, this time I made the effort, and got there just before the sun went down yesterday afternoon.

I couldn't see them for a while and then suddenly there was the surreal sight of a huge Christmas tree and a mass of Eastery daffodils.

I wonder how long it took to decorate this huge tree - it was full of baubles, cinnamon, oranges and lotus heads.

For all of the wrongness of having daffodils before Christmas, they were still beautiful.

I've got into a DIY nail art habit since the summer, which is spectacularly silly when I am working with my hands so much, but pfft. Here's me showing off my Christmas tree nail art.

Some of the daffodils had already started to wilt!

The sculpture by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond, the helter skelter-esque ArcelorMittal Orbit, looks wonderful up close - much better than it looked to me when I just saw it on TV or in the papers during the Olympics! And it sounds like they ARE going to open up a helter skelter slide next year...which, judging by the popularity of the slides in Tate Modern a few years ago, will be a hit.

I managed to go in before they shut and took some nice twilight photos...but most of those will have to wait for now.

I was pleased to hear they offer free access to accompanying carers of disabled people, so if my sister is ever in a good enough mood to go on the train and Jubilee Line/DLR, I would love to take her.

Sunflowers in time for Pollinator Awareness Week

I know there seems to be a special day, week or month for everything these days, but here is another one: Pollinator Awareness Week.

Bees are not my favourite things when I am faced with them. I've only been stung once, but that was quite enough for me, thank you. I was on a romantic date, watching Romeo and Juliet in Stratford-upon-Avon, looking very glamorous with an ice pack clamped to my arm all evening!

So even though I shy away from bees, I also grow flowers to attract them because I know how vital pollinators are. As luck would have it, the first sunflowers I've ever grown (from seed) showed their pretty faces this week. And the bees are all over them already!

I never used to like sunflowers much - they were too bright and impactful for me. But then my lovely ex bought me these once, and I came around to them. This is a terrible photo that I took of them, but the sunflowers were wonderful and made me smile.

Now I like to combine the yellow, happy flowers with equally impactful blue hydrangeas. I got these from Tregothnan - I don't think I'll ever grow hydrangeas as big as these and certainly not as blue.

Or more brights, such as the pink snapdragons, orange celosia, and lime green Thlasbi 'Green Bell' that I used here. And yes, bees did follow me as I carried these to the photoshoot!

On hypocrisy and shaming

I wasn't sure whether to write about this or not. But then I heard Alan Bennett's suggestion for the thing that Britain excels at, and I felt compelled to write. Rather than something to be celebrated, like science, justice, or the NHS (previous answers), he nominated hypocrisy. He said it was an English quality, rather than a British one, and includes himself as part of the nation of hypocrites.

He talked about how words like "environment" begin quite meaningfully, but end up losing meaning as they are "converted into political or PR slogans, ending up the clichéd stuff of an estate agents' brochure. A manual for hypocrisy."

I have noticed, in various social media forums and with various people, a few heated discussions between florists/flower growers about what is green/sustainable/environmental, and what isn't. My fear is, if we continue to single out people who do things differently from us, to "should" and "must" at people, we won't encourage people to make changes or to try a new way of doing things; rather we will scare them into not engaging in the flower community, or leave them feeling like they are not doing things "right". This is why Alan Bennett's words struck a chord with me.*

Let me be clear: I have never professed to being a 100% green florist. I have worked for years for one of the top environmental NGOs in the country, and I wouldn't have said I was 100% green then. Or even 70%. I don't think any of us would.

What I do, is what I choose to do. I choose to seek out British flowers sometimes, whereas I never did before. I use almost entirely British foliage now, whereas I used mostly Italian and Dutch before. I try to make my work look a bit more seasonal most of the time, whereas before I was making similar arrangements all year round. I have a florist friend who would gladly give me a lift to the market so she can go there too, rather than going to the local wholesaler, but I nearly always go to the flower market by train - and when I say train, I mean two trains each way. I carry boxes of flowers back on my own, trying to avoid biffing or being biffed by early morning commuters, and my knees and back feel like they are going to crumble under the weight before I'm halfway home. I deliver flowers by train or bus a lot of the time - I got peculiar looks from British Transport Police last week when I got on a train with three buckets of flowers, a rucksack full of foliage and limonium, and a tall pedestal. I reuse jars and ask other people to give me their old containers to use, rather than using cellophane/new jars for smaller posies and bouquets. I've never sought out organic flowers and foliage, although I've happened to use it when I've bought gorgeous flowers from Blooming Green and Tregothnan.

I live in an area where most customers are not particularly bothered about where their flowers come from. I can't blame them. I don't question where every single thing I buy comes from. Do you?

If I am asked to do flowers for a funeral, I will nearly always need to use floral foam. I'm not going to tell someone in their grief that they "should" get this arrangement or that one instead, because it's more environmentally-friendly. Or tell them how the dust from floral foam is carcinogenic (this was one of the first things we were told when we used foam at college). Bereavement is horrible, and buying flowers is the last thing that people want to be doing. I'm sure there are some florists who are willing to sensitively suggest greener alternatives to their customers. I'm afraid I'm not one of them. I work alone most of the time, and if someone orders 12 letters, a spray, and wreath, I would need to spend a fair bit of time mossing and wiring frames if I couldn't use floral foam. I'll need to add that time, and those extra costs, to the cost of the flowers. I don't live in a particularly affluent area, and I fully understand and respect that. Funerals are so important, but they are so expensive. I don't want to add any more to that cost than I have to. That's just me.

I admire those florists who painstakingly make wreaths out of willow for Christmas, without using wires, foam or moss. They are genuinely biodegradable, and that's amazing.

As for wire frames, chicken wire, floral tape, rose wires (the kind that are used to make buttonholes or to wire delicate flowers for a wired bouquet) - I'm fairly sure they're not biodegradable either, so they're not perfectly green. Unless you go back and collect every arrangement you've ever done, and take them apart, and manage to keep all of those wires and tape in tact so they can be reused every time. I don't offer wired bouquets, although I can do them if asked. All of my brides have opted for handtied bouquets that they can put in water and keep for days after the wedding. The weddings I do tend to be fairly small, which I love for the atmosphere when I'm setting up, and because they can easily reuse most of the arrangements.

I've said before that I think the way to win people round is by encouragement, sharing of knowledge, and understanding their situation; not by shaming and condescending. I've mostly enjoyed being part of an online community that shares pictures of our work with each other, chats about silly things, rants about how the bad weather makes gardening difficult or the hot weather wilts our flowers, and asks advice from people who might understand - it's mainly been respectful and fun.*

None of us are perfect, are we?


*Edited on 3 March.

Polar bears and being green

I saw the news that a study of polar bears has found that they are moving north, as the sea ice where they live is in decline. It saddens me that they are having to move because their home is slowly disappearing.

Polar bears are one of my favourite animals. I still find it incredible that they have black skin and transparent hair, but look so white. For my 30th birthday, I went on a trip to see them in Churchill, Canada. We flew to Churchill airport, which seemed to be the size of a village train station. It was very sweet. Our tour guides took us out on these huge buggies where we could step outside to a platform to see the bears. We didn't go close, which was good - I know that as much as we wanted to see them, the bears probably didn't want to see us. At any rate, we didn't stay out on the platform for long at a time; I don't know what the temperature was, but it was really cold!

In a strange coincidence, our tour guide turned out to be from Bromley. He probably shopped in Boots when I used to work there.

Looking at the news now, I feel lucky that I got to see the bears, but guilty too. I hardly ever travel by plane, I don't drive, and I haven't flown for more than four years. But I could have gone to Churchill by train - admittedly, a really expensive, two-night journey - and I didn't. It was only the second time I've taken a two week holiday - and both times were to visit family and friends in Canada. As I was going to Churchill alone, I guess I didn't want to miss out on spending another three days with my friends in Alberta.

Twenty years ago, I was very idealistic and evangelical about environmental issues. Now, I'm less so. I'd say it's probably one part frustration/losing hope, and two parts trying to be more tolerant. I don't think the way to win arguments or campaigns is to shame people or scare them. I still care about the environment, I still care about people, and I guess I still do my bit. Like Kermit sang, it's not easy being green.

"I am green and it'll do fine. It's beautiful.

And I think it's what I want to be."