The cityist

My Bath

Jessica Stokes

Jessica Stokes was surrounded by flowers and plants from an early age. Later she used her allotment to teach herself the basics of gardening and growing cut flowers. She trained as a kitchen gardener in an organic walled garden and now has her own business as a gardener, writer and floral designer

I grew up in a little village on the outskirts of Cambridgeshire, the eldest of five siblings, in a flint-covered Victorian Post Office on the edge of a bluebell wood which I loved spending time in.

I first remember feeling a connection with gardening in my grandparents’ garden, which became our garden when I turned five. This was full of tumbling fruit trees, blackberry hedges, a vegetable plot, a rose garden and greenhouse. I liked to spend my time in the greenhouse watching Grandpa’s tomatoes grow, being wheeled endlessly around in his wheelbarrow, digging for worms, harvesting his prized green beans and picking and eating blackberries with my Nanna. We were always encouraged to get hands on in the garden, and I think that this had a real, lasting effect on me.

I dreamed as a child of being a vet or an archaeologist, but when I was a teenager it became clear to me that I wanted to be an artist. I went to Bath Spa University and graduated in 2014, with a First in Textile Design for Fashion and Interiors. I was so enamoured with living in Bath that I decided to stay. Once I realised I wanted to work in horticulture and floristry I did some work experience on my days off with a local garden designer and also evenings, after my day job in retail, with a local florist. I began my RHS Level 2 qualifications and I did a year’s placement with the WFGA (Women's Farm and Garden Association) before starting my own business.

My textiles degree has shaped my career in horticulture and floristry. It gave me time and space to explore using colour, shape, texture and composition. After my degree I stayed in Bath and dabbled in visual merchandising and styling. We lived in a tiny flat in Bath, and longed for a garden. I acquired an allotment space, and it all went from there. I discovered gardening, growing my own flowers and arranging them. I knew then that this was my way forward.

I was stuck in a retail job which I hated. Then I had the dream opportunity to work as a visual merchandiser for a company I was besotted with, but the week I was to accept this position I was offered a very sought-after garden placement with the WFGA. I wasn’t able to do both, so I took a leap and chose horticulture. I am so happy I did.

My garden is my happy place, and it isn’t work for me. It is a place I can experiment with planting combinations, and it is left to grow wild and blousy in places. It is wholeheartedly me.

Using seasonal flowers is the most important part of what I do. It is so close to my heart that I only take on jobs which appreciate this value. I would rather have a handful of sweetpeas –highly scented and grown in a thoughtful, organic way –cut from my garden that will go over in a couple of days than anything else. The value of flowers is changing very slowly. Seasonality over endless choice, quality over quantity, organic over chemically enhanced. We must learn to appreciate the slight imperfections that come with growing flowers ourselves.

In my garden more is more. Every plant needs its space, but you can have so much fun with container gardening. Pots can be nestled closely next to other pots, clustered together for impact. I want to feel enveloped in scent and colour, I want wildness, not neatness. I want an environment that encourages birds and insects and humans. I like to experiment with bulbs in spring and annuals in summer. They are not permanent so can be closely planted together in containers for their short growing season. I like adding sweet peas on hazel teepees close to windows so that I can sit inside with a book and watch the birds eat the aphids.

If you want to work in horticulture you can make it happen if you are determined. Spend time playing around with flowers and experimenting with growing, be confident and put yourself out there. Ask if you can shadow others in the industry, or intern for a day –I have found lots of opportunities by doing this. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. ■

Jessica Stokes: flowerandland.com; @_flowerandland