Nice to meet you!
Hi, I’m Carole. I’m obsessed with growing flowers and after reaching the finals of BBC Gardeners’ World, Gardener of the Year and doing flowers for friends’ weddings, in 2012 I decided to quit my job as a teacher to grow, arrange and sell the garden-gathered, scented flowers which I couldn’t find in any high street.
My home in Kings Norton, a former sweet shop, inspired the name ‘Tuckshop Flowers’, produces many of my flowers along with my Bournville allotment and these nectar-rich cutting patches are a haven for Birmingham’s bees and butterflies. I grow flowers without using additional heat or chemicals and let nature take care of pest control.
I use locally grown flowers wherever possible in my work but also have access to commercial British and imported wholesale supplies year round and will also use these to provide floral interest, especially during the winter months when seasonal British flowers are in short supply.
As far as possible, I’m aiming to reduce my use of single-use plastics in both my growing and my floristry. Where plastic is used, I’ll always try to repurpose used materials as a first choice before buying new.


I love
I love working with wedding couples to create natural, memorable flowers whose perfumes, caught on a breeze years from now, will take you right back to that day when you got married.
I’m also passionate about creating funeral flowers as individual as the people they’re made for, inspired by conversations, not a catalogue. This has also led me to create an online course for florists to help others to increase the funeral flower choices available to people throughout the UK and beyond. I’m also co-founder of The Farewell Flowers Directory which aims to promote sustainable funeral flowers and the florists who can provide them in the UK.
The Farewell Flowers Directory campaigns to remove plastic from funeral floristry and we were delighted to win an RHS Chelsea Gold Medal for our groundbreaking display at the show in May 2025. It was the first time funeral flowers had ever been showcased at Chelsea and attracted huge media attention for our campaign and message.
As an ex-teacher, I find that the love of sharing skills and information with others never leaves you, so I very much enjoy keeping my teaching skills alive with one-to-one tuition and group workshops for floristry. You can find full details on my workshops page.
I’m a former Co-Chair and current member of Flowers from the Farm, a network of flower growers and florists keen to promote seasonal, locally grown flowers across the UK. I’m proud to have been part of their gold-medal winning RHS Chelsea team. (See other achievements along the way here.)



Meet me - by appointment
As I work from my home studio, rather than being shop-based, if you’d like to discuss an order, visits are by appointment only. Please get in touch before visiting so you can be sure I’ll be there and not out delivering, setting up an event or working at the allotment!

In the press
Find out more about Tuckshop Flowers
More about how I work and about the ethos behind my flower business
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Tracking my locally grown flowers in 2024
Keeping cutting records of my locally grown flowers and foliage in 2024 has given me insights into where the majority of the flowers I use come from - the answer? Birmingham!
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Changing the world of funeral flowers from my shed
Find out why I’m setting out to shake up the world of funeral flowers from my shed. Read more about the new Farewell Flowers florist directory which aims to connect people across the UK with more planet-friendly choices for funeral flowers.
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Sustainable floristry - what does it mean?
Carole looks at sustainable floristry techniques which are easy for any of us to use as we move away from plastic-based floral foam without compromising on the beauty of our arrangements.
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Why I’m a flower grower not a shop
Learn more about why I’ve chosen to be a flower grower and florist working from home and why my Birmingham business is called Tuckshop Flowers.

