What does it take to become a floral designer? In the case of Emma Jayne Skitterall it was grit, not just the horticultural variety but the other kind too.
Her first child Max, now 21, was born blind so caring for him was her priority. Her career in banking, then corporate travel, ended with redundancy which happily coincided with another pregnancy, this time a daughter Beatrix, now three.
That pregnancy was the real spur for change as Emma Jayne decided: “I’m not going back to that sort of work.” So, ahead of her new arrival, she focused on the floral design courses she loved. Having got Max settled at the Royal National College for the Blind in Herefordshire at the age of 16, where he is training to be a braille teacher – “heartbreaking but mainstream here just wasn’t the right school for him” – she started her floral work from home.
“I was working in this freezing garage behind the house and promoting my flowers on Facebook and Instagram for about six months. Then we got to Mothers’ Day in March 2020, with people rushing to buy flowers just before the Covid lockdown. We were so busy and I thought, wow, I wasn’t expecting this.” That burst of activity convinced Emma Jayne she should find her own premises, which is how she came to be in the old dairy on the waterfront at Oulton Broad.
Today the theme is fresh white and green because she did an Instagram poll with the public and that’s what they wanted to see in her studio this week. It’s this willingness to engage that’s led to her success. As she goes through her favourites – the pure white Avalanche roses with their sturdy stems and luxurious flower heads, the scented stocks and the airy green heads of the guelder rose – the door opens and in walks a grateful customer declaring how much she has enjoyed the flowers she had from the studio a fortnight ago. She was back for more and soon Emma Jayne is carefully paper-wrapping a bunch of stunning green and white parrot tulips for her.
Flowers say so much we might otherwise not be able to freely express and Emma Jayne gets this completely. Whether it’s a wedding or a funeral, she will invite her customers in for coffee and a chat. “If it’s a funeral, people want to share information about that person who has passed away. You get the classical music on, so it’s nice and calming, and it’s poignant because you get that person in your mind. And with this town, I know quite a lot of people so sometimes I’m doing flowers for people I know which is lovely.”
Emma Jayne knows all about the ups and downs of life and the value of reaching out to others. Just a year after moving into the old dairy, now smartly branded the Oulton Broad Flower Company, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. That meant a brutal series of chemotherapy sessions before getting the all clear and now receiving some preventative radiotherapy work, just be be absolutely sure.
The family recently moved house next to the Oulton Marshes and the big pot of bulrushes on the table is a tribute to her love of the Broads landscape. All that greenery by their home was a real tonic as she underwent six lots of chemo every three weeks.
“In my first week I was poorly at home, then in my second week I would come down here. I had orders coming in – and quite a lot of funeral work at that time – but it was so good just to forget about everything and concentrate on flowers. I mean roses are the most healing flower you can get, so when you are going through something and handling these beautiful flowers, you can’t fail to smile can you?” It prompted her to come up with another idea for her Flower School programme. She decided Wellbeing Workshops could help companies motivate their staff post-Covid, spending quality time together, team building and simply to learn a new skill. Already she has been contacted by a travel company and a foster care organisation to share her skills.
Surmounting hurdles is something she’s good at. Another example of her determination is to make her business as green as it can be. She needs to buy in flowers during the cooler months but works with a wholesaler who sources flowers solely from the Netherlands, rather than the other side of the world. During the summer, she adds flowers from her allotment where she grows cut perennials including dahlias, sunflowers and delphiniums. Her fiancé Paul is a keen gardener and works the plot when he is not being winched by helicopter for his work as an engineer on the wind turbines.
“But there are other women in Suffolk and Norfolk with flower farms so I try to use them as well,” she says. “I do a lot of bouquets in vases as well so you can use them again. These are really popular on a Friday for the weekend. I’ve also found some biodegradable floral foam rings which break down a lot quicker than the old green oasis ones.” The trend is towards wilder arrangements, says Emma Jayne, “but there’s still an element of structure”. She doesn’t go for masses of foliage, preferring lots of buds so that her customers can enjoy them for longer as they open.
Brides still like peonies if they marry in May as they have a short season, Emma Jayne explains. As for red roses on Valentine’s Day... “I just love them,” she declares. “Most of the florists in the town this year were not doing red roses because they went sky high, but I did. I’m a bit of an old romantic and thought, you can’t have Valentines without red roses!” But she doesn’t follow the tradition of tightly-wired chrysanthemums for funerals, aiming for a more natural look that's also environmentally friendly, as it all simply wilts into the ground.
Getting an arrangement right is often about stepping away, she explains. “If you keep on, you may ruin it. My mum is a perfectionist and will offer a fresh pair of eyes if there’s a funeral and something needs a tweak. My mum and sister help me with weddings so there’s a little family team which is lovely.” Since flower arranging is such a stress reliever, it’s not surprising that younger people are taking it up as never before and Emma Jayne has even had requests for a children’s workshop. Meanwhile, she’s preparing for a hen do the following week.
“We’re going to have a cake and Prosecco, and they’re going to make flowers. And we’re going to have a giggle!” This is the woman who has conquered setbacks that would leave many of us in despair. “But I’m just starting out aren’t I?” she says. “All of this is now coming together after so many struggles and I absolutely love it. Onwards and upwards,” she says sunnily, as I leave.
oultonbroadflowercompany.co.uk
