The Real Flower Company

A Hampshire flower farm behind a scented-flower florist

The Real Flower Company is a family-owned British business that grows and sells scented cut flowers, plants and gifts. It was founded in 1995 by Rosebie Morton, who began growing roses in her mother-in-law's walled garden in Hampshire after becoming frustrated with the scentless bouquets then common in British floristry. The company presents provenance, sustainability and what it calls good business ethics as central to its operation.

Its growing base is a family farm at Hinton Ampner in the South Downs National Park, complemented by a farm in Chichester, West Sussex. The founder describes dividing her time between the Hampshire farm and the London stores.

What is grown and how

According to the company, it cultivates almost 500 different varieties of flowers and foliage across five hectares of Hampshire fields, plus a one-hectare glasshouse in Chichester that extends the British growing season. Scented garden roses are its long-standing speciality, with around 30,000 bushes tended, alongside sweet peas, hydrangeas and a wide supporting range of foliage and seasonal blooms.

The company states that 90% of its ingredients are grown in Hampshire, West Sussex and Kenya. In 1998 Rosebie Morton set up a sister farm in Nanyuki, Kenya, in partnership with Tim and Maggie Hobbs of Tambuzi; the material describes this as a long-term supply relationship rather than a simple sourcing arrangement.

From farm to vase: the retail side

The Real Flower Company presents itself as one of the first florists to sell flowers online, dispatching bouquets across the United Kingdom in green branded boxes tied with an olive-green bow. Its catalogue is organised around seasonal flower collections, occasion-led bouquets, flower farm boxes, hat box arrangements, flowers with vases, David Austin roses and flower subscriptions.

Occasions covered in the shop include anniversaries, birthdays, congratulations, engagements, funerals, get well soon, new baby, new home, romantic gestures, sympathy, thank you and weddings. Beyond cut flowers, the range extends to wine and chocolate, luxury scented candles, vases, jugs and dishes, home, body and bath products, floristry accessories, rose petals, gift vouchers, seeds and bulbs, and gardening tools and accessories. Christmas flowers, wreaths and garlands also feature as a seasonal line.

Prices shown in the catalogue at the time of writing included a Roselilies flower box from £38, a bouquet of the moment from £53, a seasonal flower jug at £30 and Elspeth's Garden Bouquet at £80.

Shops, weddings and events

The company's physical retail began with a concession in Selfridges in 2016 and a first standalone boutique on Chelsea Green, followed in 2019 by a move to larger premises in Parsons Green to accommodate a growing weddings and events business. A second boutique opened in 2022 in Highgate, near Hampstead Heath. The company also runs bespoke weddings and events work, funeral flowers, trade flowers and workshops that can be booked.

Sustainability claims in its own words

The company states that 95% of its packaging is plastic-free and describes its farm as carbon negative and climate positive. These are the company's own characterisations of its environmental performance.

Delivery