I. MUST. GET. BETTER. AT. BLOGGING.
Anyway, I'm here now. So lets do what we do best and talk FLOWERS.
For those that don't know, Leeds Castle is a 10th century castle hidden away in the beautiful Kentish countryside of Maidstone. (And when I say hidden, I mean its gonna take a good small hike just to get from the car park across the grounds..!) They are renowned for their summer music gigs, historical events but also surprisingly for their floristry. Leeds Castle has its own team of in-house florists that not only keep the castle looking bright and flowery all year round but also offer wedding packages for those couples that choose to wed there, and their floristry team is headed by the amazing Louise Roots (if you didn't know who she is, you do now.)
Every year, the castle holds its own Festival of Flowers showcasing incredible installations by florists such as Simon Lycett, Dennis Kneepkens and the Academy of Floral Art to name a few. They also hold talks and demonstrations throughout the festival. 2017 was the year of the fairytale (and for those that know me, the combination of disney and flowers was almost too much to cope with !!)
This year I attended 2 out of the 5 days (damn you work) and was just amazed at the talent I saw especially from the huge room installations inside the castle itself, they really did take my breath away (cliche, sorry..) However I made the mistake of taking my boyfriend/floristry assistant Joe to the Sunday of the festival. And although, bless him, he does try and seem interested for the most part, even he couldn't sit through the talks about flower farm locations and weather patterns. With it being the weekend, it also meant the castle was heaving with day-trippers and tourists and we may have queued for a good 45 minutes just to get INTO the castle (at least the sun was shining!) Although this did give me a good excuse to snap a few of the gorgeous flowers they have growing in their garden including that ice-white scabious! Knowing how busy it would be, and knowing how quickly Joe gets bored of walking, I only took my Canon M3 on the first trip as its so lightweight and easy to just put in my handbag - although doesn't compromise on picture quality whatsoever. But on my second trip, knowing I'd have more elbow room and the time to focus on things I took the big boy; my Canon 5D Mark III so I could go full-photographer-mode and put that 3 year degree to good use! (Sorry, no this is not a Canon ad, I just really like photography and people often ask me what I take my instagram photos with - yes I do cheat slightly as no, they're not all iPhone shots, soz).
Okay I'm going to stop talking now and show you what you actually came here to see; flowers. Below is a little gallery of some of the incredible installations both inside and out of the castle as well as some of the beauties they have growing in their gardens.