Opening the Gates to Our Flower Farm

Our Garden Is Joining the Franklin Hospice Garden Ramble

Coming up far too soon is the Franklin Hospice Garden Ramble – a whole weekend spent exploring some of Franklin's beautiful gardens while supporting the wonderful work of Franklin Hospice.

I say far too soon because our garden is one of them!

On the 14th and 15th of November we'll be opening up the garden and flower farm for visitors, and with only six weeks to go, suddenly every weed, unfinished garden bed and job I've been meaning to get around to seems to be staring at me!!

This will be the second time we have opened our garden as part of the Garden Ramble, and although there is a lot of work involved in getting everything ready, I absolutely love being able to show people where so much of The Wild Rose begins.

Come and See Where Our Flowers Grow

Normally, you see our flowers once they've arrived at The Wild Rose and have been turned into bouquets, posies and arrangements.

During the Garden Ramble, you get to see the other side of it.

You'll be able to wander through the garden where we grow so many of the flowers and foliage we use in our work and see the stems growing long before they ever make their way into a bouquet.

I think there's something really special about that. Our garden isn't just somewhere pretty for us to enjoy – it is very much a working flower garden. I'm forever planting, cutting, sowing, moving things around and wondering where on earth I'm going to squeeze the next plant in!

Some things are grown because I adore them, others because they make beautiful cut flowers, and an enormous amount of thought goes into the foliage too. It's all part of what gives our Wild Rose arrangements that slightly different, garden-grown feel.

And of course, being November, I'm hoping the garden will put on a beautiful show for everyone. Although gardens have a habit of doing precisely what they want, regardless of how nicely you ask them!

A Weekend for a Wonderful Cause

We are also helping Franklin Hospice by selling Garden Ramble tickets in store at The Wild Rose, as well as at our sister Paddock to Pantry stores in Karaka and Kahawai Point.

Every ticket helps support the care Franklin Hospice provides to people and families within the Franklin community. The Garden Ramble is such a lovely way of fundraising because you get a wonderful day out, plenty of garden inspiration and a good excuse for a nosy around some beautiful properties, all while helping an organisation doing incredibly important work.

So buy a ticket, come and say hi, have a wander around our garden and see where we grow the flowers and foliage that eventually find their way into so many of our arrangements.

Why Hospice Support Is Personal to Me

Hospice is also something that is incredibly close to my own heart.

When you order from The Wild Rose online, you may have noticed that you have the option to add a donation to Tōtara Hospice through GoGenerosity.

My connection with Tōtara Hospice is a very personal one. They supported my family and me while I nursed my brother-in-law through pancreatic cancer.

It's a long story, and probably one for another day, but I genuinely don't know how I would have managed without their support.

It's one of the reasons I've always wanted The Wild Rose to give something back where we can.

We now provide flowers for Tōtara Hospice's Ladies Lunch and Long Lunch events, and the GoGenerosity funds donated by our customers can also be used by their team for Cote Noire pieces or anything else from The Wild Rose that they would like to use as silent auction items to raise even more money.

And this is the part I really love – you, our customers, have already helped us contribute more than $2,500 through GoGenerosity.

Every little donation that has been added to an order has become part of something much bigger.

So, Now I'd Better Get Back Into the Garden…

With six weeks to go, there is still an alarming amount of weeding, mulching, planting and general garden tidying happening around here!

But I really can't wait to welcome everyone through the gate in November.

Come and see where our flowers grow, enjoy some beautiful Franklin gardens and, most importantly, help support the incredible work being done within our community.

And please cross your fingers for sunshine!

Grown and written with love,
Melanie