Tag Archives: flowers

Rosie & Twine, Flower Delivery

Posted on by

Usually I trek to Columbia Road on Sunday mornings to peruse and choose floral decoration for my flat. Last week however I experienced a much easier service. Rosie, founder of Rosie & Twine delivered a beautiful bunch of flowers to my door, complete with care instructions. My bouquet was an eclectic mix of dark reds and pale purples with a touch of white, delicate and fresh flowers some of which I didn’t recognise. Rosie later told me the bunch consisted of Agapanthus, Scabiosa, Dahlia, Alstromeria and a few anemones, all British grown.

Rosie & Twine is a unique ‘Flowers by Subscription’ service that focuses on delivering largely British flowers beautifully and efficiently. With every bunch £1 is donated to the ‘Friends of the Honey Bee’. The heart of the business model is the subscription process – understanding that we all deserve lovely flowers yet don’t have the time to source the best, Rosie has created a very simple, easy to manage subscription process.

The idea developed from a lifetime love of flowers. Rosie & Twine is passionate about championing British produce and keeping the majority of cut flowers British to decrease the amount we import from all over the globe. Growing up in the countryside, Rosie’s family kept bees and grew to admire them. Bees in this country have suffered dramatically over the past fifty years due to a decline in pollen rich plants and the use of fertilisers and chemicals. We need to increase the biodiversity of plants and flowers available to bees and we can raise awareness by working with the Friends of the Honey Bee campaign through donations from every bunch. If we look after them they will in turn look after us.

The service initially launches in all SW postcodes with a plan to expand, Rosie is happy to deliver further afield so do get in touch. She heads over to the Flower Market to get all the flowers for the day’s delivery. Each week there will be two new bunches on offer, so you can either make your own choice or you can leave it down to Rosie’s creativity.

Deliveries take place between 1pm and 6pm, Tuesdays to Fridays. You can choose your delivery day when you subscribe and add in any special delivery requests. You can manage your account online so if you want to skip a week or month or would like to cancel, it will be easy. If you want to send a gift, you can order flowers as a one-off or even buy a tailored gift subscription.

Deliveries officially begin in November 2014 but Rosie is already open for business so pop over to her website and get floral.

Find out more here: www.rosieandtwine.com

Hot on the Highstreet Week 205 – Bangkok

Posted on by

Chatuchak – This weekend only market is North of uptown Bangkok. It is the largest market in Thailand covering over 27 acres with over 15,000 stalls. You can find everything here, Section 6 is particularly good for vintage finds, whilst other areas focus on accessories, jewellery, phone covers and gifts. I recommend wandering through and browsing the colourful array of goods with a freshly squeezed orange juice in hand. When you are feeling weary, stop for a 30 minute foot massage (150THB – £3).

Open Wednesday and Thursday for plants and flowers 6am-6pm, Friday for wholesale 6am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday whole market 6am-6pm. Best to get the Skytrain to Mo Chit station (exit 1) as traffic can be bad.

Propaganda – Now located in two venues (The Emporium in Sukhumvit, and fourth floor of the Siam Discovery Center) this design led boutique sells a range of intriguing items, most memorable perhaps are the witty plastic pieces, like the molar shaped stools.

MBK Center – This futuristic shiny building is home to many familiar brands both authentic and fake. If you are looking for a good quality imitation this is the place to spend your cash. 2000 stores and services spread over eight floors, it is heaven for shopaholics, and just across the walkway from Siam Discovery and Paragon shopping centres.

Almeta – Most dash to Jim Thompson House for their silk tailoring in Bangkok, however Almeta offers the highest quality luxury handmade silk and has an impressive Silk a la Carte service. Customers can choose from over 1000 iridescent silk colours, yarn types and weights. Almeta are also the creators of Lazy Silk, the only machine-washable Thai silk. If you want something tailor made try to leave time for a couple of fittings.

Find the shop on Sukhumvit 23 and walkable from Asok Skytrain station.

It’s Happened To Be A Closet – A mad and eclectic retro bohemian clothing store, that also serves as a tea room and nail salon. You could spend hours rummaging through the pretty floor-to-ceiling piles.

For more Bangkok shopping ideas, look here.

Hot on the Highstreet Week 163

Posted on by

When the sun decides to shine on London we all panic about how to make best use of the warmth. My preference for Sunday mornings has to be Columbia Road, the lovely East London street full of quirky things to discover. Obviously the fragrant flower market is the main reason to visit, but even if you don’t intend on buying a bunch it is great fun to wander through observing seasonal plants and magnificent flowers whilst listening to the cockney geezers giving their best spiel.

After picking up a bouquet and gorging on Italian brunch at Campania, there are a host of independent shops to eat up your loose change.

Choosing Keeping is a stylish ubercool stationery shop for magpies like me! It is all arranged in a systematic layout that is very attractive and tempting. The type of shop that can urge you to make a credit card purchase in the hope that you can make your office look more like Choosing Keeping. I loved the rainbow-coloured Sakura Coupy pencils, the neon yellow fountain pens, and the dinky Japanese miniature desk accessories.

Vintage Heavens sells gorgeous sets of teacups and saucers, plates, vases, and ornaments. Affordable and one-of-a-kind, it is perfect for kitting out a new home.

Two Columbia Road is a bit pricey but the spectacular vintage finds here are worth the dollar. We found wonderful art deco lamps and an old map of the world.

Suck and Chew is the shop to satisfy all your sweet-tooth childhood fantasies: liquorice, sherbet, and chocolates of every kind are presented in wacky retro jars and pots. Fill a bag with your favourite sweets and indulge while you walk around the flower stalls.

At Number 94 Columbia Road you will find a special little jewellery shop ideal for picking up a present or treat for yourself. When I visited I saw the ‘Wear it Out’ collection, and particularly loved the matchstick range from artist Petra Bishai.

If you need a caffeine kick there are plenty of hidden baristas to attend to your cravings. A blackboard stating “Coffee, any style” is the best for a creamy Monmouth blended flat white.

Tip for the day: take lots of cash, ATMs are hard to come by and the market traders don’t take card!