How to Become a Florist: My Story Opening a Flower Shop in Blaenavon

Of all the flowers grown in the UK, just over one in ten come from small-scale plots, like mine on a mountain top in South Wales. If you’re thinking of becoming a florist - and perhaps you have no experience at all! - I’m going to share with you how I did it.

Botanic Possessions wasn’t born overnight. It’s the result of a journey—one that started during one of the most challenging times of my life and slowly grew into something beautiful.

After all, even the best bouquets have a few thistles! So, here’s how to become a florist, interwoven with my own story of opening a flower shop in Blaenavon.

Finding What You Love

‘Do what you love’ is some of the best advice given to anyone dreaming of starting a small business, but how do you find your passion?

Well, I think sometimes the hardest times can reveal to you what matters.

Back in 2020, like so many people, I was trying to navigate life through the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

My mum was very poorly with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a condition that severely affected her heart and lungs. This meant she was classed as extremely vulnerable and needed to shield herself.

At the time, I was working a stressful job that made it hard to spend as much time with her as I wanted to. Something had to give. I decided to step back from full-time work, moving to part-time so I could be there for her and also find something to occupy my mind.

Discovering Gardening

If you want to become a florist, you probably already love plants and flowers. The Floral Design Institute’s Flower Library lists over 134 common flowers and foliages for florists, and I love discovering and growing more!

While caring for my mum, I found gardening. It began as a way to cope, a way to keep my hands and head busy during the heaviness of that time.

I would watch Gardener’s World every week, eagerly waiting for Monty Don’s “jobs for the weekend.” I steadily worked my way through gardening books.

Eventually, I discovered cut flowers and knew I’d found my thing.

Learning to garden was an outlet during a difficult time caring for my mum, and gave me an understanding of flowers and the seasons that I use in my work as a florist.

Growing Flowers

What I didn’t know at the time is that local flowers are much more environmentally friendly than imported stems, which can travel up to 6,000 miles in aeroplanes!

If you’re dreaming of becoming a florist, I would recommend learning to grow flowers if you can, and considering the sustainability of the flowers you source. You can find the flowers I grow in my seasonal bouquets - drop me a message if there’s an event I can help you with. 

Over the next couple of years, I took over every inch of our garden to grow flowers and eventually took on an allotment.

One of the greatest joys was taking Mum bunches of the flowers I’d grown. Sadly, she passed away, and I miss her every day. But in her own way, she led me to this path—to growing flowers, to building something that brings joy to others.

A bouquet of winter flowers with roses, hellebores and jasmine. I still grow all the flowers I can in my garden and allotment.

Learning Floristry

Once you’re committed to becoming a florist (good choice!), the next step is to study floristry and learn from other florists who inspire you.

You can start really simply. For example, I taught myself the basics of floristry using YouTube tutorials and by following incredible growers on Instagram like Georgie Newberry from Common Farm Flowers and Sarah Grey from Bloom & Gray Flower Farm.

From there, things slowly began to take shape. I started experimenting by giving flowers to my allotment friends.

When the Queen passed away, I gathered every flower I had and made small posies for people to lay in respect. One bunch even made it to Buckingham Palace. People started to tell me, “You should do this for a job.” And I thought—maybe I could.

That’s when I began to take courses. I studied flower arranging at Blaenau Gwent College and natural Christmas wreath-making with Fran from Ladi Dardi Flowers.

Building Your Mindset

But something was still missing. I lacked the confidence to call myself a florist. If you feel this on your way, I can tell you it’s entirely natural and part of the step between being a student and actually putting your floristry skills to work.

I don’t think building your mindset happens overnight; rather, it comes in small steps. You’ll look back one day and think, yes - look how far I’ve come.

In April 2024, I saw an advert for a flower shop assistant. I asked myself, “Could I do that?”

Elouise from Bloomify Floristry in Abergavenny kindly invited me to chat about the role. I didn’t get the job, but that conversation lit a fire in me.

Elouise could see my passion, but recognised I needed to build confidence. That moment pushed me to go further.

While I was putting my days into studying floristry, having the confidence to call myself a florist was a challenge. Luckily, having inspiring florists around me helped me grow my mindset.

Launching Your Business

Sometimes in life, we’re waiting for someone else to hand us a gold ticket - a chance to realise what we’re dreaming of. In my case, I realised that, to become a florist, I was going to have to launch a business and carve out this career for myself.

After the interview with Elouise, I enrolled on a Floristry for Business course with the brilliant Emma Lynch from Love Lily.

Emma gave me practical insights into running a floristry business - the ups, the downs, and those little wins that make it all worthwhile. That was the turning point.

In May 2024, Botanic Possessions was officially born.

Over the past year, we’ve carved out our own brand of alternative floristry, working with wonderful businesses across South Wales and creating flowers for weddings, funerals, and special moments in between.

We’ve hosted workshops, met incredible customers, and even won Best Arts and Creative Business at the South East Wales Business Awards 2024 - a moment I’ll never forget.

Being a florist is the practical work of riding the ups and downs of running a small business, along with savouring the little wins that remind you why you started.

Opening a Flower Shop

Without sounding too sentimental, it really did feel like the stars were aligning. The next natural step was to open a physical space.

When you’re opening your first flower shop, keep an eye out for opportunities in your local area - and don’t underestimate what you can work with!

In November 2024, the hammer went down for us on a dilapidated, damp little shop in Blaenavon.

It needed a lot of work, but living just around the corner in our beautiful World Heritage town meant we could lovingly restore it in the evenings and on weekends. Finally, I would no longer be filling my dining room with flowers.

The building still has a way to go—it’s waiting to be brought back to life as the beautiful Victorian shop it once was. Because it’s in a conservation area, we’ve applied for planning permission and hope to have it granted by late summer 2025.

For now, I’m working out of the space as my studio, galaxy mural and all. But I can’t wait to share the results with you as we continue this journey!

From growing flowers in my garden, I’m now realising my dream of restoring a Victorian flower shop to sell local bouquets in Blaenavon.

Becoming a Florist

I hope this post has given you an extra spark (or added a little flower food) to your dream of becoming a florist.

In sharing my story, all the way up to opening a flower shop in Blaenavon, I wanted to show how windy the route can be - but if you build your skills and confidence and learn from people who inspire you, you can’t go wrong.

Botanic Possessions has always been about more than just flowers. It’s about creating something meaningful, about finding beauty and connection even during life’s most difficult seasons.

It’s a reminder to myself - and hopefully to others - that sometimes, from the hardest times, the most wonderful things can grow.

To treat yourself or someone special to a seasonal bouquet, you can browse my flowers here. Or, get in touch for bespoke floral arrangements for your home and special occasions.

If you’d like to follow my journey and see our Blaenavon flower shop restoration in progress, subscribe to my newsletter below. You can also find us nominated for the 2025 South East Wales Business Awards.