Mother’s Day was last Sunday and all week I’ve benefitted from M&S’s leftover flowers which was just as well as it’s been all go with a gala dinner, 2 workshops, 3 funerals and countless trips to the tip. On top of that throw into the mix 2 late night flower collections on Wednesday and Friday from the Imperial War Museum and Somerset House and a feverish couple of hours compressing cardboard in Chipping Barnet and you’ll understand why I’m thinking of buying shares in Costa Coffee. In the grand scheme of things, this is nothing as this week’s heroine and OG, as my daughter Ella refers to her, has been Helen Harte (Community Barnet’s Head of Business Development). Fresh from burning the midnight oil for days ahead of Community Barnet’s AGM - she single handedly lugged, sorted, compressed and disposed of a mountain of cardboard which was former housing to those artificial flowers from Pinewood Studios. The boxes that arrived on a flat bed truck last August had lived happily in the basement of Community Barnet’s Chipping Barnet workshop in High Barnet but as of March 31st the keys to the premises are being handed back and the flowers will be homeless! Helen could see how busy I was and what an impossible job it was going to be for me to remove all the boxes so she bravely stepped into the breach and spent hours and hours painstakingly removing every artificial stem from its cardboard box. They’re now semi manageable in 8 huge boxes all we have to do is get them out of the building and into my car to their new home. Where are those flowers destined? Well, as of 10.30 last night my back garden but step forward yet more local heroes, the Friend’s Meeting House on Leicester Road, 4 doors away from the shop and they miraculously have a watertight musty storage room I can use short term! Next week is equally manic with a spot at Barnet Council’s Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change on Wednesday night where I’m going to urge them to introduce a ban on the use of polyribbon in Barnet cemeteries and on Friday I’m hosting 10 volunteers from Lexington Reception Services who are going to clear and plant the flower beds at New Barnet’s railway station! Lexington Reception Services are very keen to help The Flower Bank and they’re the people behind my donation from Spring restaurant at Somerset House this week. I’m now off to wake my daughter Mathilda as she and I have got our work cut out today shifting cardboard boxes. Have a great week. Ursula

And it’s a wrap, thanks to everybody who placed an order for our Mother’s Day arrangement this year and to everyone involved in their production, it was an amazing team effort. More next week, but from this foot swollen, shoulder aching, energy zapped florist I’m looking forward to my day off. Have a great week. Ursula

It’s been a relentless round of funeral flowers and sub zero temperatures this week during which we created 8 arrangements for 3 funerals and over the next 2 weeks we’ve got 7 more funerals, a gala dinner and Mother’s Day to do. The enormity of this work dawned on me last Thursday when I started to have a mild panic attack, not helped by the fact that an anticipated donation from a corporate in town had fallen through as guests at the International Women’s Day event had unexpectedly taken the flowers home with them! By Saturday the situation had been resolved through the generosity and kindness of 2 gardeners who dropped off some wonderful greenery for me. On Friday I was contacted by Janet whose mother, Doreen had recently passed away and whose house she was clearing, Doreen had been an avid gardener and flower arranger for 50 years and I felt like some sort of floral archaeologist sifting through her possessions yesterday afternoon - I was very fortunate and unearthed some wonderful items which I can’t wait to use in my classes. Have a great week. Ursula

It’s been an emotional week, starting with my birthday on Tuesday. In my youth birthdays were an excuse to party but now I can’t stand the attention but one lady in my Age UK class remembered and had created a wonderful poster of all the designs she’d created in my class over the year and I was hugely touched by it. On Wednesday I received a visit from Fiona who’d been widowed the previous week, her husband had only recently ordered Valentine’s Day flowers from us and he’d died after a very short illness. Fiona told me that her husband’s wish was for The Flower Bank to create his funeral flowers and I genuinely don’t know who was more emotional. On Thursday, Steve from the Royal Mail asked me to create the funeral flowers for their colleague, Graham who’d been a postman for 40 years and had no family to speak of. The Royal Mail had been his life and his friends wondered if as well as 3 huge wreaths bearing the words “Graham, Postie, Legend” I could create a 3’ arrangement in the shape of a post box - I happily accepted the challenge. Other plans for his funeral include a guard of honour outside our local Sorting Office as the hearse goes by, Talking of Royal Mail Sorting Offices I had a bit of a moment this week when I was emailed by the catering company that works for McKinsey in Central London enquiring about running a workshop for them. When I looked at at their address I saw it was the old Royal Mail Sorting Office on New Oxford Street in High Holborn. When I worked at The British Museum many years ago my boss had been involved directly in the building’s purchase and subsequent scheme using PFI (Private Finance Initiative) to transform it into a Conservation Centre. This project was all consuming but ultimately came to nothing as the PFI Availability payment sky rocketed. I heard years later, that it had been sold off after being used for illegal raves. I’d be fascinated to run a workshop there. Have a great week. Ursula

After the chaos of the previous “Valentine’s week” this week was much calmer which I was grateful for. On Monday with the shop immaculate and me less so I was photographed for May’s issue of Prima - smiling on demand was a bit of an issue at first but the photographer soon had me grinning like a Cheshire Cat! Later on in the week I received a call from the Association of Patent Lawyers, I was terrified I’d done something wrong or perhaps The Flower Bank’s name was already in use by a multi National and not ok to use? Terrible thoughts flashed through my head until it was explained that they’re planning a fundraising party in July for Great Ormond Street Hospital and wanted the event, in particular its decor to be sustainable. Their theme is Midsummer Night’s Dream and after some discussion I’m hopeful that they’re going to use some of the artificial silk cherry blossom trees that we’ve managed to create from the Walt Disney donation. I took a look at the trees after the phone call and realised that the Heath Robinson way we’d assembled them would fail any risk assessment the Association of Patent lawyers might have, Cue Adam, the shop’s neighbour in Leicester Road, genius carpenter and phenomenal problem solver to create a tree trunk fit for purpose as opposed to an old papier mache covered cardboard tube and by Friday he delivered his prototype. It’s a wonderful bit of craftsmanship carved from a fallen tree he had knocking around his wood yard it looks completely magical and most important, it’s stable. International Women’s Day is fast approaching and if you’re free later on in March on the afternoon of Saturday 25th March come and join us for some botanical printing, Hapa Zome and a talk from the wonderful Susan Skedd, local historian par excellence and another talented Leicester Road resident. Her talk will be on High Barnet’s Cutbush nursery and the work of landscape architect Sylvia Crowe. Have a great week. Ursula

I believe that Valentine’s Day is to florists what the Grand National is to bookies and Tuesday was utter chaos. It was lovely to see customers that I haven’t seen or heard from all year and I lost count of the bouquets we made that day for everyone from a 91 year old to a lovestruck teen, by the end of the day flower supplies and my energy levels were decimated! I’ve got time to recuperate before the next 2 big floral events - International Women’s Day on 8 March and Mother’s Day, this year, on 19 March. Yesterday, I drove to the Thames Rowing Club in Putney to collect Hannah’s wedding flowers; the different venues that I collect from give me an opportunity to glimpse another world for a brief moment. Vintage photographs of winning crews on the walls of the boathouse smiled down at me proudly including the team at the 1936 Olympics with Adolf Hitler! I think there’s something really special about venues overlooking water or perhaps that’s just my inner Piscean talking! I never expected to meet the bride and groom clearing the venue but was delighted to tell them that their arrangements were going to be used within 24 hours at the consecration of the newly built St Mary’s Church Hall in East Barnet. I have a soft spot for St Mary’s Church as it dates back to the Norman period and reminds me of an old church from my childhood, St Peter’s in Heysham, Lancashire. It was pure serendipity that I’d received a phone call the previous day to ask if I would be able to donate flowers for the party in their hall - the bride and groom were thrilled to think their flowers were being re-purposed, particularly as the groom was an architect. Tomorrow I’ve got a photo shoot for the May edition of Prima Magazine and less than 24 hours to re-energise myself. Have a great week. Ursula

It’s been a grim old week so when I was asked to be a drop off point for Samara’s Aid appeal I leapt at the chance. I was sure that people from New Barnet would give new clothes and hygiene items generously but mobility aids? Step forward Anna Theanne a regular customer who runs a care home in Hebden Bridge and has a basement full of redundant Zimmer frames and crutches as well as a birds eye view on the recent filming of Happy Valley! I received a phone call on Wednesday afternoon from a group of eager UAL students who wanted The Flower Bank’s collaboration with a pitch they were doing the following day. My interest piqued our involvement, if we were willing, would be to provide stems from daffodils and tulips as their cellulose would provide the absorbency in the bio degradable sanitary pad they were proposing. The group’s leader Katherine had already created them in Cambodia using water hyacinth stems and wanted to bring the prototype to this country. I’m waiting to hear how their pitch went but the versatility of the flower really never fails to amaze me. We’re now at T minus 2 days until the annual chaos that is Valentine’s Day and sales of our surplus Valentine’s Day kits are going really well. To remind you for just £37.50 j you will receive a 3 course meal for 2 cooked from food surplus by Chef Vee and a bunch of flowers for £37.50. Simply pre-order and collect from 3.00 on Tuesday 14th using your own containers and dishes. It’s a totally unique concept and not too late to order so if you can, please support us. Thanks to Helen Harte for her astounding social media services. Have a great week. Ursula.

On Monday afternoon I was visited by the Head of Barnet Council’s Adult Services and Councillor Paul Edwards, Chair of Barnet Council’s Adult & Safeguarding Committee and a fellow Evertonian. They’d come to get a flavour of the work we do and were genuinely amazed by the variety of projects I’m involved with. I took the opportunity to tell them about my wish to have poly ribbon banned from funeral tributes at cemeteries. I’d been reminded of their usage only the day before when I visited Islington & St Pancras Cemetery and saw a pile of decomposing tributes, the flowers were long gone but the poly ribbon wasn’t! With just 9 shopping days to Valentine’s Day I decided I wanted to create something unique this year so The Flower Bank has teamed up with its old friend Chef Vee to provide a zero waste romantic Valentine’s Day kit. The kit will consist of a 3 course meal and flowers which you’ll be able to collect from us on the afternoon of 14 February using your own tableware but pre-booking is a must. If you’re interested please message me and I can talk you through the logistics. Have a great week. Ursula

Last week I received a lovely email from a woman in North Wales (no, not Mrs Trellis from Radio 4’s I’m sorry I haven’t a clue) but Sandy who got in touch after reading an article about me in The Flower Arranger magazine. I’d genuinely forgotten all about it and seeing the article and reading Sandy’s words lifted my spirits enormously. I can’t tell you how cold it’s been in the shop over the past few weeks, the inside of the shop’s refrigerator has been warmer! Midweek I collected some branches of contorted willow from Lisbeth in Enfield whose tree was being pollarded, the tree had been planted too near her house and its roots had caused her house to subside - pollarding was the only course of action as she simply refused to have her tree dug up. I told her the wavy branches would be used with my Age UK class on Tuesday morning. Late last night I picked up flowers from Help 4 the Homeless a charity run by Shoshana & Lloyd Gilmore who collect surplus from Waitrose, Wenzels and Costco to name but a few retailers and turns this surplus into meals. They drive every Thursday night from Borehamwood into Central London with these meals and clothes and other items to hand them out to rough sleepers and the homeless on the streets of Westminster. They’ve been doing this since 2017 through all weathers and despite having full time jobs they would never miss their weekly Thursday commitment, now they’re an inspiration. Have a great week. Ursula

It’s been a week of memorable anecdotes the first was on Tuesday at the Crews Hill wholesalers, Van Vliet, when I was shocked to see that the price of a humble bunch of Chrysanthemums had shot up to £16.99, I was flabbergasted and asked why. Staff told me that the cost of heating and lighting was killing growers across Europe. One rose grower being charged a staggering 30,000 euros a day to heat and light his greenhouse had, in desperation simply turned it all off to leave nature to do the rest with the hope that they might have some for Valentine’s Day. My next memorable anecdotes were from Wednesday when the activity Co-ordinator from a home in Potters Bar that I’d provided flowers and baskets to returned with feedback. The activity had been a complete joy for the residents; one lady with dementia who packs every afternoon to return home had for 30 minutes been so engaged with flower arranging that she’d simply not packed and then there was a 100 year old resident who never left her room but did so to join in the activity. Management at the home were thrilled. Today is Chinese New Year and according to Chieko, one of my volunteers, who was born in a previous year of the water rabbit — it represents longevity, peace and prosperity, let’s hope so. Have a great week. Ursula