The photograph was taken on a recent trip to a local cemetery and is a very common sight. It really is shocking that long after the funeral is over the funeral tributes still remain. I refuse to believe that there’s no biodegradable alternative to polyribbon, foam and plastic. If anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them, so please get in touch. I rang the cemetery after my visit and asked them what happens to the plastic rails that the letters sit on and could they possibly be re-cycled? They were delighted to think the rails could be re-used and encouraged me to help myself, the problem is I just don’t know how comfortable I am with the idea. Today we’re one step closer to resuming our normal life as we do our first market at Tottenham Green, N15. The weather is lovely and it’s going to be great to see everyone after such a long break. I’m off to pack up the car. Have a great week. Ursula

Last week was all about research, a number of people had asked me recently if I knew how to stop box blight or other infestations, unfortunately I had no idea. Some google research led me to the natural Gardener an organic, sustainable, biodegradable couple who are just “growing nature’s way”. On their website they sang the praises of Neem Oil (for virtually everything, including shampooing your pets). I remember Neem Oil being recommended for a particularly resilient bout of nits in my younger daughter’s hair, it worked but the smell was rather pungent. I spoke to the natural Gardener and ordered a trial bottle as well as some coir pots. If you want to come and get some Neem Oil we’ll have it in next week. As I was ordering I found out that supplies of coir pots are coming intermittently from Asia the supply and production have been affected by Corona with organisations opened one week and closed the next. I told him that I’d been collecting very few flowers from my normal supermarkets and he said that the usual Eastern European labour who would plant and pick cut flowers wasn’t here for our lockdown. I did remember Prince Charles’s heartfelt plea for people to come and pick and I’d romanticised about a new era of the Land Army unaware of the outrage he’d sparked on Twitter but now I wondered just how many people had answered his call. Our floral misery is further compounded by the fact that Colombia, Ecuador and Kenya’s flower producers for the high end and mass market are all struggling with transport and safety issues. According to The Florist Magazine some experts are predicting it won’t be until early August that Dutch chrysanthemum production is back to normal and as they are the staple flower of funerals they’ve been described as the new “gold”. So with all this in mind you can imagine my surprise when I was asked to drop in to Morrisons yesterday to collect their surplus flowers (see picture) and plants. Have a great week. Ursula

This week was all about preparing the flowers for the funeral of an avid Liverpool fan - thanks Julie, yet again, for your patience and tremendous floral ability. We were really worried that because of the heat the flowers wouldn’t last but fortunately they made it in one piece and thankfully it was the day after that our fridge broke down, it’s being repaired tomorrow morning. The flower supplies from the supermarket have dried up this week and when you visit the wholesalers their range is quite reduced too - I mean there are no tropical flowers and very little foliage. I believe it’s due to a reduction in the flowers being exported from Holland, everyone is hopeful that things will pick up soon. Fortunately we’re still picking up garden stock and I’m just about to head off to Morrisons at Borehamwood for a collection. You’ll be able to see what I picked up in our garden centre tomorrow afternoon so please pop in. Have a great week. Ursula

It was so nice to see my 2 Duke of Edinburgh volunteers on Monday bounce into the shop, cabin fever behind them, to decorate the window for British Flowers week. In fact so lovely was their window display that I caught a lady using it as a backdrop for a photoshoot with her child later in the week. On Friday in honour of British Flowers Week I made an arrangement in an unusual vegetable container with my zoom floristry group and Lem (see photograph) made hers in a cauliflower whilst others chose a yellow pepper and cabbage. Although we’re open most afternoons during the week people still think we’re only open Wednesday afternoons which is lovely as we have a lot of people visiting us that day. Our flower collections are starting to rally although Tivoli, the company that supplies organisations in Canary Wharf haven’t yet started back - it’s rumoured from mid July. Talking of mid July Tottenham Green market starts back on Sunday 12 July which we’re looking forward to. Our garden centre is overflowing with bedding plants and shrubs and seedlings at the moment and I’d love a volunteer to come for an afternoon a week to help with maintenance and labelling please get in touch if you’re able to help. Happy Father’s Day and have a great week. Ursula

Tomorrow, Monday 15 June, all non essential shops in England are allowed to re-open with restrictions - so we’ll be open most afternoons from 2 - 5. Tomorrow is also the start of British Flowers Week and my 2 Duke of Edinburgh volunteers will be dressing the shop window accordingly in the morning. These 2 Year 9 girls are desperate to return to some sort of normality and they see volunteering in the shop as part of that as well as providing them with a space to be creative. On Friday morning I was delighted to welcome Yan to The Flower Bank, he took part in our Chelsea Fringe Competition last year “Bloomin Barnet Bins” creating an amazing structure with the help of the community at Grahame Park estate. You can see him on Netflix at the moment with Henck in “The Big Flower Fight” think Bake Off for floral designers and he’s well on his way to becoming a national treasure. Have a great week. Ursula

For the past 2 weeks we’ve been opening up the shop as a garden centre on Wednesday afternoons and welcoming back customers. It’s been great to see everyone and I couldn’t do this without the wonderful support of Julie, so thank you for helping introduce a sense of normality to my life. On Friday, Adam asked me if I could provide flowers for his mum’s big birthday so I made the arrangement for him in containers that he hired from us so if you’ve got a dinner or special occasion that you want flowers for please come to us. Yesterday I received an urgent request for flowers for a funeral so I prepared buckets of sweet Williams, lilies -‘and tulips (yes still tulips in June) which were picked up by Carolyn who’d been let down by another florist. Next week young Offenders begin planting cuttings at their homes as part of a growing project that Barnet Youth Offending Service is organising. Next Wednesday 10th June will be the final afternoon that we’re open as a garden centre because as of Monday 15th the shop is allowed to re-open once again. The open air markets that we’ve been part of also look as if they’re going to be back in operation soon and I’ll keep you posted. Have a great week. Ursula

Congratulations to Jeni Osbourne, winner of the adult section of our first ever miniature garden competition and to Isabella and Olivia, twin sisters who won the children’s section (see the attached photograph for their entry). Once lockdown is over they’ll all receive a bunch of flowers. Talking of lockdown being over we have this week been given dates for non essential shops to re-open. From Sunday 1st June open air markets can re-commence so The Flower Bank will be at Tottenham Green market on Sunday 21st June. From Monday 15th June, co-incidentally the start of British Flowers week, non-essential shops can re-open. I’ve got a DofE volunteer coming in to dress the window that morning and lockdown has really fuelled her creativity!! Thanks to those of you who’ve visited us on Wednesday afternoons when we’ve opened as a garden centre it’s been wonderful to meet old friends and neighbours. We’re continuing with this for the next 2 weeks so pop in if you’re able. Lots of people walking past the shop have popped their head in to see what we’re all about never having had the time before to stop and it’s been wonderful to meet them. Our collections aren’t fully back up to speed yet but we’re certainly collecting enough flowers to open as a florist. Have a wonderful week. Ursula

I forgot to mention that today is the last day to vote for your favourite miniature garden on Instagram @miniature_garden 2020 so please take a look. Next year I hope to hold it in the flesh.

Harold Wilson famously said that “a week was a long time in politics” so too the life of The Flower Bank. Slowly we are re-starting some sort of service by re-opening the shop on Wednesday afternoons as a garden centre, resuming flower collections from the supermarkets and providing a service to the community. On Friday I dropped lots of plants to Edgware Community hospital to help them turn a bleak area of concrete into a joy for recovering Covid-19 patients to look at from their ward’s window. Yesterday I made up several bunches of flowers (it’s been a couple of weeks so I was a bit rusty) to deliver to the bereaved and elderly in the area. Next week is Shavuot, the Jewish festival with flowers at its heart and I’ll be dropping off bunches to Lady Sarah Cohen House In Friern Barnet to help them brighten the home. Later in the week I’ve teamed up with Age UK to provide bunches of flowers for the elderly who are distancing and who are in desperate need of cheer. Even the young offenders who should be doing reparations are becoming green fingered and having a go at growing things from home. Gary, their reparations co-ordinator is keen for them to grow Scotch bonnet whilst I’m holding out for the incredibly easy and quick growing cress! Oh and in this heat our fridge has packed up, the compressor has broken and needs replacing which will happen next week. So, in the meantime it means I need the flowers to go out more quickly than normal - if you know anyone in the area who needs cheering up with flowers please get in touch - for your information I’m collecting a lot of peonies at the moment. Be safe. Ursula

Just to remind you that you’ve got until midnight today, Sunday May 17th to enter your miniature garden in the competition I’m running as part of this year’s Chelsea Fringe. All you have to do is send me a photograph of your completed garden and I’ll upload it to Instagram where you can then vote for your favourite from Monday 18th May (@miniature_garden2020). Added to the Scottish entry from last week I’ve had entries from Felixstowe, Epping Forest and Bristol. The most unexpected entry so far was from Kim Wilde, 80’s pop star, teen heartthrob and now gardener with a penchant for miniature gardens. Later on this morning I’m dropping flower arrangements to a friend’s house for her daughter’s bat mitzvah. Unable to hold their planned event they’re doing it on zoom. Tomorrow evening Netflix begins “The great flower fight” think Bake Off but with flowers. On Wednesday The Flower Bank will be operational as a garden centre with strict distancing in place. It’s kindness week from Monday and on Thursday I’ll be showing people online how to make jam jar posies as gifts for neighbours. Oh and from today we’re also re-starting our collection of flowers from supermarkets where feasible. Huge thanks to Julie Wiater this week who helped get the shop ship shape for Wednesday. Stay safe and if you’re entering our competition Happy gardening.