Sustainable Flowers
Diocesan Environment Adviser, Jill Elston explores advice for Eco Churches switching to sustainable flower ministries
The Church of England is well known for its ministry of flowers and a new webpage launched by the National Church encourages churches to reflect on how flowers are sourced and arranged, advocating for practices that honor creation through sustainability.
If you are interested in Sustainable Church Flowers, the Flower Ministry Team at St Michael’s in Macclesfield will be hosting a demonstration and discussion on 2nd September at 7.30 p.m.
Booking is essential please contact office@stmichaels-macclesfield.org.uk
Jill Elston, Diocesan Environment Adviser has been to visit a sustainable grower here in Cheshire to get some insider tips and knowledge. She visited visited Moorfield Farm Flowers in Bramhall where the flowering season starts in earnest around March with Spring bulbs from March to the end of April.
When Jill visited at the beginning of May, she was able to enjoy beautiful and colourful blooms like ranunculus, cornflowers, geums and snapdragons to name just a few. The flowering season can run until late November, especially if your local grower has a polytunnel. However, some growers will have holly and berries that will support winter floral arrangements.
Buying British and local flowers means that the flower offerings change with the seasons and it’s a great way to work with nature, so the flowers offered in Spring will be different to those offered in summer. Commercially grown flowers flown into Holland from all over the globe and distributed throughout Europe may provide flowers out of season, but they carry a huge carbon footprint in comparison to locally grown organic British flowers.
Jill met Tom Chadwick at Moorfield Farm who is part of the Flowers from the Farm organization who are the group that can guide you to sustainable growers in your area. Many growers will be growing similar flowers to Tom as they grow flowers that are suited to the British climate.
Jill said: "Tom and his family were very friendly and knowledgeable, and they told me the many growers that sit within Flowers from the Farm have a variety of different plot sizes ranging from a small allotment bed to the larger number of beds and polytunnel at Moorfield Farm Flowers. Tom’s advice for church flower arrangers is to get in touch with a local grower to see what they grow and how they might be able to help. All growers are passionate about their sustainable and local flowers and would love to hear from churches and help those in their local communities. A little bit of notice is always helpful for small local growers and the more flexible you can be in what you’d like for your arrangements the better. Often flowers are sold in mixed buckets, and you will receive what’s in season at the time, which means you are working in harmony with nature and the weather which as we know can vary from year to year. Growers are used to both small scale and ad hoc requests and larger regular orders and if you need enough flowers to purchase by the bucket, then you may be able to buy at trade prices – it’s best to make friends with your local Flowers from the Farm grower and see how you can work together."
Locally grown sustainable flowers are kinder to the environment, promote great soil health, have pollinator friendly practices and work alongside the rhythm of the seasons – why not embrace working in harmony with nature next time you decorate the church with flowers!
With thanks to Tom and Laura and all who work at Moorfield Farm.
https://www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk/
https://www.moorfieldfarmflowers.co.uk/Â
Here's the link to the Arocha Eco Church Resource on Sustainable Church Flowers:
Church-flowers-and-sustainability.pdf
Links to Eco Church survey
For Eco Churches, this links with the following sections of the Eco Church survey:
Worship and Teaching question 9 – worship resources, see links on the A Rocha questionnaire.
Community and Global Engagement – question 15 – advertising your sustainable flower use to others including funeral directors, brides and local businesses.
Lifestyle – question 2 or 10
Jill Elston is the Diocesan Environment Adviser. She is a member of the Outreach Team based at Church House.
19 June 2025