When Florence and James Kennedy first saw the Cornwall farmhouse that would become their new home and base for their business Petalon, it looked like something out of Matilda.
“Like Miss Honey’s cottage, falling down but still heavenly,” says Florence. “Loads of aquilegias, wisteria and Barbie-pink roses. It was beautiful, and it just needed love.” From that moment, something enduring took root: not just a life among flowers, but a hard-won education in soil, seasons and sustainability.
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The genesis of Petalon is impossible to resist. It was launched in 2014 by Florence as a flower-by-bicycle delivery service from her home in London’s East End. With no formal floristry training, a handcrafted bike built by her husband, and a belief that flowers could be both elegant and accessible, the business model was charmingly simple. Two new bouquet designs each week – one bold, one soft – delivered by bicycle across the city.
But when the pandemic hit, and the couple decided to relocate to Cornwall with their two young children, there was a shift. “We couldn’t move to Cornwall and not have a go at growing flowers,” says Florence. And so, Petalon expanded from hand-tied bouquets to regenerative farming.
Now spanning 85 acres, Petalon is home to more than 200 flower beds across five acres, all grown and harvested without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or artificial heat.
We’re not trying to grow the obvious. I don’t want to grow something I can buy at auction
Summer is Petalon’s crescendo. From June to September, the farm erupts into bloom: linarias, scabiosa, zinnias, achillea, campanula, cosmos, dahlias, cornflowers, sweet William… The variety is startling – especially in a market dominated by carnations and long-haul roses. “We’re not trying to grow the obvious,” says Florence. “I don’t want to grow something I can buy at auction.”
Instead, she focuses on the unexpected: unusual cultivars that feel rare and enchanting, and makes them available to anyone. “It’s the best feeling,” she says, “getting tagged in an Instagram post and seeing a ‘Café de Picotee’ ranunculus on the windowsill of a high-rise flat. I love that – bringing something special and magical to people, wherever they are.
“Our focus is to grow as much as we can and minimise imports for as much of the year as possible. We call it shouldering our seasons.” With no heated greenhouses, that ambition comes with compromise – particularly in winter, when carefully sourced imported stems help keep the team employed.
"If I want to offer year-round jobs and build a core team I can train and invest in, there’s a balance to strike,” says Florence. For Petalon, transparency matters more than a rigid ideal. “We’re not pretending we grow everything ourselves. If we could, we absolutely would."
Each season brings new trials: overwintering experiments, new varieties, constant adaptations to Cornwall’s quirks. “We don’t get those long, prolonged frosts,” says Florence. “But the wind can be brutal. It’s about working with what we’ve got.”
To put a bouquet together, we walk around the field to see what we have in abundance and what’s scarce, then build from there
Two 28m polytunnels help extend the season, and this year’s early success with salvia and echium suggests the farm-grown bouquets might start earlier than ever.
Petalon was the first florist in Europe to receive B-Corp certification. “It’s not straightforward,” she says. “We go to lengths that B-Corps don’t measure and do things they don’t mention, simply because we feel we should.” For her, the certification is more about a framework: a way to hold the business to account, ethically, environmentally and financially.
Growing flowers on a regenerative farm is a lesson in patience and precision. Florence oversees what to plant, when to plant it and when to harvest. Some bouquets contain up to 15 different stems, all timed to bloom in harmony.
“Flower crops are planned nine months to a year in advance, working backward from bloom dates to sowing dates to ensure a continuous harvest. A detailed spreadsheet maps out flower forms, colours, timing and quantities, so every bouquet has exactly what it needs, when it’s needed.”
That same attention to detail extends online. Word of mouth and Florence’s instinct for social media have helped fuel the business’s growth. More than 60,000 people now follow Petalon on Instagram, where she shares snapshots of flower beds in bloom and her deft, hand-tied bouquets.
Our focus is to grow as much as we can and minimise imports for as much of the year as possible. We call it shouldering our seasons
Each one is wrapped in hessian and tied with compostable twine – small gesture that reflect a deeper environmental ethos.
“To put a bouquet together, we walk around the field to see what we have in abundance and what’s scarce, then build from there,” she says. “I think about colour, whether it’s tonal or contrasting, and make sure each one has the right forms: a focal flower, textural filler and something tall and spired. It’s about creating something beautiful while making sure those things are blooming in the field.”
A decade after its beginnings in east London, Petalon feels at once transformed and true to its roots. The business is bigger now, the setting wilder but its heart remains the same: thoughtful flowers, grown and gifted with care.
Useful information
Find out more about Petalon Flowers at petalon.co.uk