Designs On Society

Inset: One of the SeedFolk characters in action.

It wasn’t a big surprise that SeedFolk, the brand concept created by Seedlings Cards & Gifts, was proclaimed a winner of the ‘License This!’ competition at the end of last year, as its premise, based around characters that care for our wildflower seeds chimes so perfectly with our heightened awareness and appreciation of our native wild flora that help to protect the planet and aid our wellbeing.

With the lovely idea of seed cards (in different incarnations) having germinated from several publishers, PG was happy to discover they are reaping more than they have sown.

Sarah-Jayne and Joel Mercer are co-owners of Seedlings Cards & Gifts

“Seedlings Cards & Gifts began over 11 years ago, from an idea to give the gift of seeds, beginning with a small range of seed cards. As our ranges grew so did our education on seeds and we quickly became aware of the importance of using British grown varieties of flower, preferably of native origin and in particular the benefits of planting wildflowers for maintaining natural habitats. We’ve always had an interest in nature and preserving our natural environment for future generations, and it therefore became essential that our beliefs and values aligned with our business and so we began to spread the message.

Many of the seeds we use are British grown native varieties which means they have evolved to be ideally suited to our native insect species, which have sadly suffered huge declines in recent years, mainly due to habitat loss. As opposed to many cultivated varieties of flower, wildflowers have accessible nectar and provide not only food and fuel, but a home for our wildlife, acting also as nursery plants for young larvae. In the early days, before the Save the Bees campaign highlighted the plight of our important insect species, we came across many who did not understand the importance of wildflowers and had people often refer to them as ‘weeds’. It is now wonderful to have experienced the change in perception in recent years, and the awareness of the wider public, which has contributed to the ‘growing for nature’ movement. On our 10 year anniversary we opened our bricks and mortar shop in the historic quarter of Hereford. It has been a delight to

hear first hand from customers how engaging with our products has led to them to plant wildflower areas in their gardens and notice the wonderful insects and wildlife they bring. We have also met many people who have expanded our own knowledge and made links with local people doing grass roots projects. Planting a seed is a simple yet powerful action. It is said that gardens in the UK cover an area bigger than the Peak District and Lake District combined. From the smallest of outdoor spaces, like balconies and windowsills to allotments and yards full of potted plants, these areas offer our wildlife a much-needed home and a chance to refuel. Above: One of Seedlings Cards & Gifts products. If we all became involved in planting seeds and growing for wildlife their networks would expand. With the climate emergency, it is now more important than ever to make informed choices in all areas of our modern lives.

Our products make it easy for people to start on their journey of planting with wildlife in mind. From our seed cards, with simple ‘scatter and go’ varieties, to our yearly seed calendars, which introduce the idea of each plant benefiting a particular species of wildlife, our products aim to give back to the environment and encourage the recipients to become engaged with nature.

This year will see a number of our ideas come to fruition, with the launch of our new SeedFolk range, based on the brand the company won the LicenseThis! competition with. We will also have new growing gifts aimed at children, year calendars, card ranges and a ‘no-waste’ plantable advent calendar which we have been working on for a while.”

Hannah Dale, founder of Wrendale Designs

“Seed cards are something that we’ve wanted to do for a while as there is such a strong connection between my artwork and nature. Two years ago, Jack (Hannah’s husband and co-director) and I decided to take our 300 acre farm out of food production (it’s low lying, unproductive land which was very stressful to farm) and plant it with a mix of wildflowers and grasses instead. In a short amount of time, we’ve seen a huge proliferation in wildlife on the farm as a result and the increase in the number of birds is particularly noticeable - we even heard our first cuckoo last spring for the first time in many years.

This is something that we are passionate about, and bringing it into one of our card ranges felt like a natural progression for us; if everyone had a small patch of wildflowers in their gardens or on their windowsills it would make a huge impact. In the end we opted to design the cards to hold seeds rather than using paper embedded with seeds as we have had problems germinating some of this type of paper ourselves and had heard of similar issues so we felt that this would be more reliable. We worked with a local seed supplier in Lincolnshire to put together a mix of native seeds. There are 12 designs in our inaugural Say it with Seeds collection which is launching this month, each design incorporates a floral element, so it is a lovely range to be launching for the spring.”

Above: One of the designs in Wrendale’s Say it with Seeds range. Left: Hannah and Jack Dale, mid-way through their recent mammoth tree planting and rewilding project.

Rosie Tate, director of Cath Tate Cards

“We first launched our Seeded range in January 2020. We had wanted to launch a range of plantable cards for some time prior to this as stainability and being kind to the planet have always been among our core values.

Charlotte Day, who has designed our Seeded range, was already working with us on another botanical card range and prior to being an artist worked for the Royal Horticultural Society, so she was the obvious choice to design the range. We researched the seed mix in the paper and Charlotte went about hand painting the flowers that are in the seed mix, so the artwork on the front of each design is an illustration of what the card will grow into once planted. It was a time consuming and difficult range to produce, but worth it, because the cards are a lovely earth friendly keepsake and perfect for gardeners or just anyone who cares for the planet.

Planting wildflowers is really key to the world’s eco-system because bees love them! A third of the world’s food production depends on bees for pollination, so that’s every third spoonful of food eaten! So planting is essential in helping create a more sustainable planet.

There are currently six designs in our Seeded range, and we are adding two more in February 2022, making eight designs in total covering a range of occasions from birthdays, thank you, Mother’s Day and Thinking of You.”

Sarah Reilly, founder of Love Country

“The idea for my seed card range goes back to when I planted a wild garden at the front of my house. I received so many comments of how lovely it was and how good it was for the bees. I then saw some homemade seed cards on Etsy and wondered if there was a way to offer these on a larger scale to my customers. After researching lots of options I found a reliable supplier and decided to offer smaller cards to keep the cost down for the customers. That way they could send more cards and more flowers would be grown.

One card really can make a difference. I worked with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to ensure the correct seeds were used in our cards. With the decline in our bee population, it is really vital that we all do a little bit to help our environment, otherwise who will? It's great fun for younger children to get involved in planting so that they grow up focused on helping our environment too, the future is in their hands after all.

There are now 20 designs in the range, which reached the shortlist in this year’s Gift of the Year awards. After such a wonderful response to our launch in May 2021 with the first 10 summer designs, we then added 10 festive designs which were equally as popular and flew off the shelves. We are still a growing brand so hopefully as more stockists find our products we can reach more and more customers to plant the flowers.”

Above: Sarah Reilly, founder of Love Country. Right: Love Country offers a free counter display unit with any orders of 120+ cards.

Hannah Marchant, founder and creator of Hannah Marchant

“As I design, print and finish all greeting cards myself, I tested a number of paper stocks.

After lots of trial and error I was able to develop a range of seeded cards (made from recycled paper pulp which is embedded with seeds in manufacture) which I thought would appeal to many people (including children) and inspire them to learn about gardening and growing!

I saw these greeting cards as a perfect eco-friendly solution in that as they are embedded with seeds, once the card has been enjoyed it can then be planted where it will grow as part of a garden. I love the idea that as they grow and blossom they echo the greetings and good wishes of the friends or loved-ones who sent them.

I think it is very important to have an awareness of what we can all do for the environment. I would like to think that my little seed cards are helping make recyclability fun!”

Below: Sarah Jackson is a big lover of plants.

Sarah Jackson, director of Stormy Knight

Above: Hannah Marchant now has over 200 designs to choose from and has added two new ranges to the collection recently.

“What sparked the idea for our Bloom seed card range was the trend for cards with added value (patches, badges etc) which had appealed to me for some time, but I wanted to think of something different. I've always tried to utilise green material with our cards, and I’m a big plant lover so the idea of including seeds in a card felt like a really lovely fit for our brand. And so the idea for our Bloom range took shape.

I researched it for quite some time and discovered seed papers - which are lovely, however I wasn't sure that this would allow me the flexibility with print that I wanted or the seed varieties. I also wanted to provide something that felt like more of a surprise gift element when the card was opened. Including seed sticks was a perfect solution - they are totally biodegradable and are all made in the UK, and they are super easy to plant, even if you only have a sunny windowsill. I then went on to work with paper engineers to construct a traditional style greeting card that could house the seed sticks inside securely - and then we launched Bloom at PG Live 2021! The whole process took around eight months - much longer than I would usually spend on a collection, but there were a lot of elements to consider.

I think that people are becoming more interested in gardening and have a greater awareness of the need for biodiversity over the last couple of years. Lockdown saw many take to growing their own and the waiting lists for allotments are getting longer and longer.

We are all becoming aware of how important it is to grow wildflowers to help nature thrive and protect our beloved bees too. Even if it's just a couple of pots on a doorstep, it all contributes to giving plants a place to grow and insects to feed - and worms a place to call home! Our seed sticks focus on wildflowers and bee-friendly varieties, as well as herbs and strawberries. The range currently comprises nine everyday designs, and we are just about to launch three Christmas designs that contain seed sticks to grow your own Christmas tree! We are also in the process of designing some additional birthday and Spring Seasons designs, plus we are in discussion with our seed supplier to see what additional varieties we can include.”

Above: One of the Christmas designs in Stormy Knight’s Bloom range.

Kay Patel, director of The Seed Card Company

“The idea for The Seed Card Company goes back to seven years ago, when, through our Intricate Creations business (which specialises in bespoke corporate design projects and wedding stationery), we created a pop-up oak tree card for L’Occitane as part of its pledge to sustainability. The ‘card’ enabled the recipients (bloggers, celebs and influencers) to grow a tree sapling. The following year we undertook another two projects in a similar vein which meant we fell in love with the idea of working with a material that grows, giving the product a wonderful continual life and helping the planet.

Then, during lockdown, with no weddings to distract us, we set up The Seed Card Company, going into great detail about the provenance of seeds that were embedded in the paper we use in all our cards, experiencing the wonder ourselves of seeing them germinate in 3-4 days.

The pandemic, as well as accelerating the drive for protecting our planet has most definitely made people appreciate the natural world more. We are big believers in the ‘Power of One’, how doing one small thing can help the planet. We love the idea that our cards are contributing positively in the climate change battle, one card at a time. From a standing start a year ago, we are now up to 400 designs and have a new card collection, The Doodlings, all set to launch at Spring Fair, with other new designs also joining our existing ranges.”

Above: One of The Doodlings designs from The Seed Card Company. Left: Kay Patel and Jit, her husband and business partner on their stand at Autumn Fair.

Emma Sutton, founder of Mosney Mill

“The idea for the range came during 2020 when we were revising our Sustainability Policy and looking at the products across our range. Mosney Mill already had a range of notelets printed on FSC paper, and talking with our suppliers we discovered the possibility of printing images on ‘seed card’ paper. At Mosney we are fortunate that for the past five years we have set aside a large area of land to plant a wildflower meadow as we recognise the need to support pollinating insects, therefore the seed cards complemented the vision for our home and business.

As with all Mosney Mill products, the inspiration for my illustrations come from the animals, birds and insects that live alongside us on the Mosney land.

Once the images were created we wanted to ensure that the packaging and envelopes were also environmentally friendly. Therefore, the individual cards are packed in compostable clear packaging and suppled with a Kraft brown envelope produced from recycled material. To complement the range, we also offer a beautifully illustrated countertop Point of Sale which reflects the design and environmentally friendly aspects of the cards.

Being lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of rural Lancashire, as a family and business we recognise our responsibility for the stewardship of the land on which we live. Apart from the natural beauty and sense of wellbeing we can receive from observing flowers, they are essential to help with pollination and to support the life cycle of the bee population.

We have also received feedback from parents and grandparents who have planted the cards with children and the cards have therefore become part of their learning about nature.

There are 21 designs in our current range of seed cards and this Spring we are introducing two new designs featuring two adorable bunnies hugging.”