By Desmond Zwar
Australian boronia, wattle and waratah wildflowers are about to take pride-of-place in English living-rooms as the Christmas "thinking of you" industry reaches its peak.
Picked and dried at the end of winter, the flowers are being flown with gumnut bows from Perth to Britain as part of an order list that the Flying Flowers organisation believes will this week top 4,000.
Flying Flowers began in Jersey 15 years ago with Britain as its sole market. Now it has departments in Perth, New Zealand, South Africa and the US.
Katie Pascoe, who runs the Australian operation with her team of two other girls, says it differs from the long-established Interflora, a worldwide network of florists, because Flying Flowers is an international network of nurseries.
Ten years ago, Katie went to work in St. Helier, Jersey, with Flying Flowers. Her boss was delighted to find she had management skills because it gave him more time to spend in his beloved nursery. He had just started up an American branch and one in New Zealand. ‘I stayed 18 months,’ says Katie, ‘and then decided I wanted to see Australia. I went back-packing all over the country and saw the potential for Flying Flowers here.’
She returned to the UK, arranged migration and set up business at Rockingham, Western Australia, taking faxed and phone orders from customers and having flowers delivered in the UK from St. Helier. ‘There was such a huge response that the management in England saw the potential and encouraged me to break into the Australian market.’
Katie was determined to be in complete control of the quality of flowers dispatched for weddings, birthdays and bereavements. ‘I didn’t go to markets to buy them because you never know how old they are. Instead, I formed a close relationship with nurseries so that I can guarantee the flowers picked that morning are the same ones flown out that afternoon to customers.
‘There are only three of us here and we can keep the service affordable because we oversee the whole order, from picking the flowers, selecting them, packing and despatching - as well as administration and management. All under one roof; no loose links, no middlemen.’
The hundreds of thousands of British migrants with relatives and friends in the UK, made the potential for teaming up with Jersey Flying Flowers obvious. Even in the Christmas rush, an Australian order received on Monday, with a faxed greetings message transferred to an elegant card, is delivered next day in London and maybe two or three days later in other parts of England.
Katie was enthralled with Australian wildflowers she saw on her backpacking trip and now has them grown, dried and dispatched by air to Britain for as little as $35 a delivery. Customers were so keen on the idea that orders of wildflowers are now 30% of her UK market. Wildflowers are seasonal, coming from the largest wildflower nursery in Western Australia. The kangaroo-paws, ti-tree and waratah are picked in the late winter months and dried by being hung inside the ceilings of sheds with iron roofs. Some are treated with glycerine to help them last for many months. Finally they are placed in cartons tied with a paper bow with three gumnuts glued to the centre of the bow.
‘What amazes me,’ says Katie, ‘are the letters of thanks we receive. There are only four of us here and we handle a lot of orders. But we find time to listen to people who are perhaps bereaved and want to send flowers to loved-ones on the other side of the world.’
A Victorian woman incorrectly filled out an order form and received her own bunch of carnations. ‘Although I have used your service for several years,’ she wrote, ‘I had never seen the flowers. My "accidental" bouquet lasted more than a fortnight. I know the favourable comments made by my friends were not exaggerated!’
‘A Queensland woman said flowers arrived on Christmas Eve in perfect condition and gave her great joy. Twenty-four days later she had to consign them to the compost heap. She wrote: "Perhaps not good for turnover, but giving lasting pleasure to this old lady!"’
A mum in England, said her daughter, "was feeling quite low on a miserable day", when the postman rang the doorbell and announced: "Flowers from Australia!" ‘She still has the wonderful display of Australian wildflowers in her room.’
Katie is flying back to England for Christmas to see her mother in Jersey. ‘I am taking a whole crate of wildflowers for a fireplace she has converted, and a huge bouquet of carnations and eucalyptus.’
This is such an awsome idea!!! I am always struggeling with what I should send relatives for birthdays and holidays, but sending Australian wild flowers sounds like an interesting present. I have already several times sent flowers to the UK but usually with a UK flowers delivery service, which wasn't cheap either, so I might go for Flying Flowers next time. Thanks for posting
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We never taste happiness in perfection, our most fortunate successes are mixed with sadness. - Corneille
