I’m very fond of the south west of England, having grown up in Devon and gone on holiday to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
And if you’ve never been to the Isles of Scilly before, I highly recommend you visit…it’s an absolutely stunning place!
As well as being a popular holiday destination, it’s also where you’ll find several flower growers whose crops benefit from the warm climate there.
I recently was very fortunate to receive, as a gift, a box of narcissi from a company called Scented Narcissi, who are based on the islands.
Nothing can quite beat the first time you smell the gorgeous sweet fragrance of these dainty blooms in your home, in the depths of the winter months.
And here’s an interview I conducted with the company…
How did Scented Narcissi come about and where is the company based?
We’re based on the Isles of Scilly, a small cluster of islands 28 miles off the Cornish coast.
Scented Narcissi is a small group of family farmers who all put their crops together to supply the best quality and most beautiful British flowers.
Our story actually begins in 1882 when bad weather destroyed the island’s potato crop which prompted a local Reverend to take to the pulpit to explain the virtues of flowers over potatoes!
So inspired was one of his congregation, islander Mr. William Trevellick, that he speculatively sent a hat box of scented narcissi to Covent Garden along with the artichokes and asparagus he was already sending…and a new cottage industry was born!
Which different varieties of narcissi are grown by Scented Narcissi?
Our varieties change with us through the season. At the moment, we have the beautiful Paper Whites, which make stunning Christmas centrepieces.
We also have Hugh Town and Soleil d’Or, some of our yellow varieties, which smell heavenly!
It’s hard to really put into words just how beautifully scented these flowers are until you have them in your home!
Where do you sell your flowers?
You can buy scented narcissi online or by phone. They arrive in our iconic blue boxes direct to your home.
Usually, they come hand-tied in our midnight blue ribbon and tissue paper. However, this Christmas we have gorgeous festive trimmings to decorate them with.
We have a great promotion running at the moment, where our customers can receive discounts on multiple orders, and anyone who sends or receives narcissi in December gets 30% extra free on unlimited orders in January!
What are your plans for 2013?
We have exciting things planned for 2013…from teaming up with our friends at 28 to feature their gorgeous handmade soaps, to Emma Bridgewater themed birthday packs.
We have a few weddings planned for the New Year. And we will be announcing the winner of our ‘Trip to Scilly’ competition which, of course, your blog readers are more than welcome to enter!
Many thanks to Scented Narcissi for all their help in compiling today’s blog post. If you’d like to keep up-to-date with their news, they’re on Twitter and Facebook.
(Images : Scented Narcissi)
[…] We recently teamed up with Rona Wheeldon at Flowerona to feature in one of her blog posts. She seemed to enjoy our flowers as much as we do! To read what she had to say about us, and more about what we do, read her blog here. […]