The Flower Farm in Deal, Kent
Much of our time is spent growing seasonal flowers at our nursery in Deal, Kent, nurturing plants from seed to first bloom. As a family-run business, the farm is where our understanding of plants and scent becomes something so intrinsic to our day-to-day life and supports our commitment to growing sustainable flowers for our London shops.
Growing with the seasons
The growing season at the farm runs from March to October, which sets the rhythm of our working days. Spring begins with tulips, ranunculus and anemones. By early summer, the farm moves into sweet peas, roses, larkspur and cornflowers. Heading towards autumn, dahlias, zinnias and rudbeckia come to life. To name just a few of the flowers that we grow.
Sustainable growing
The flowers from our nursery are delivered locally across Deal and Canterbury, and twice a week a batch travels up to London – some destined for weddings, some supplying weekly vases for restaurants and hotels, some going out to subscribers who receive a regular bunch throughout the season.
Working so closely with the growth cycles of the plants helps us retain the quality of the blooms. A flower grown in Kent and cut for a London wedding the same week has travelled a few dozen miles, not several thousand, so we’re able to play our part in sustainable growing. Producing locally results in a smaller, more honest supply chain with a far lighter footprint than the cut-flower industry's default, which is built on imported stems shipped in from overseas growers. It's a slower way of working, and a process that we value, taking the time to appreciate everything that we grow here. It’s the same thinking that shapes how Forest Skincare is made; small batches, made in the UK, formulated with care and patience.
What working with plants teaches us
Growing flowers gives you a close, practical understanding of plants as living materials, and this knowledge feels intimate, shaping our relationship with scent and botanical ingredients. It should come from people who know the difference between a fresh green note, a resinous one, or a dry herbal finish, because we encounter those notes daily. The farm gives us that language of scent and texture, drawn directly from the work itself.
We keep a close eye on cultivation, carefully observing the flowers’ growth and finding the perfect moment to cut the stems, increasing the longevity of our flowers. So we pick them at their peak and transport them quickly, keeping the scent and colour at their best.
It also means working entirely within what the British calendar actually allows. Nothing is forced into bloom out of season to meet demand. The flowers travel a few miles, with no cold storage and no long-haul freight behind them, which is a meaningfully lighter footprint than the cut-flower industry's usual route. And the knowledge runs both ways, where every season spent growing teaches us something more specific about how a particular plant behaves, which feeds directly into the way we think about botanicals more broadly.
Our flowers
We grow a range of popular flowers at the farm, following the rhythm of the seasons and bringing our customers the firm favourites:
Tulips
One of the earliest spring flowers, available in an enormous range of colours and forms – like single, double, fringed, parrot are popular varieties. They're not significantly scented, but their clean, simple shape and short stem life make them a true seasonal marker.
Anemones
Delicate, dark-centred blooms on slender stems, among the first flowers to appear after winter alongside tulips and ranunculus. Their silky, almost translucent petals give them a distinctive, slightly wild look, reminiscent of a field poppy, compared to more structured spring flowers.
Sweet peas
A high-summer flower prized for its strong, sweet scent. They can be demanding to grow but the result is rewarding once you see their blooms.
Roses
One of the most loved flowers for a reason. Farm-grown varieties (often called English or scented roses) differ considerably from imported florist roses featuring looser, more open blooms and far more fragrance. They bridge early and high summer in the growing calendar.
Dahlias
Available from late summer to autumn in an exceptional range of forms, from small pompoms to dinner-plate-sized blooms. They're grown from tubers that must be lifted and stored over winter in most UK climates, making them one of the more labour-intensive flowers in the growing year, but also one of the most rewarding for colour and structure.
Rudbeckia
A striking golden-yellow flower with a dark central cone. It's a hardworking, late-season flower that holds up well once cut and brings warmth and structure to autumn arrangements as more delicate summer flowers fade.
A slower pace of life
We love spending time at the farm, working hard to produce the brightest most fragrant blooms. Being there reminds us of the importance of embracing a slower pace of life, especially in contrast to the pace of London living. We wanted to instill that feeling in Forest Skincare, creating balms and handwash that invite us to pause and enjoy the scent and sensory experience like it’s a ritual. Forest Skincare belongs in the space between field, shop, studio and home, which is also where many of our customers live and work – between the pace of London and the special moments where we can escape to places of calm, surrounded by nature.
Forest Skincare is a British natural handcare brand made for hands that carry the work of a full life.
From plant to palm
