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'We were first to take funeral flowers to Chelsea'

Eleanor Maslin & Natalie Bell
BBC News
Farewell Flowers Directory Four women standing in a line and smiling. Three are wearing glassed and two have blue aprons on. They are stood in front of a funeral flowers display which has flowers bursting out of an elevated coffin next to the a sculpture of a man sat on a bench.Farewell Flowers Directory
The Farewell Flowers Directory team were wreathed with smiles at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

An East Yorkshire florist has helped create the first display of funeral flowers at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Gill Hodgson MBE won a gold medal for the display she made with non-profit group Farewell Flowers Directory.

Ms Hodgson said Queen Camilla, who stopped to speak with the team, "really showed an interest and was full of congratulations".

"We are the first people ever to take funeral flowers to Chelsea Flower Show so that alone is different", added Ms Hodgson.

Farewell Flowers Directory Queen Camilla in a button up green and white floral dress standing next to Gill Hodgson, who has a flowery dress on, a pink cardigan and scarf. Gill has short blonde hair and Queen Camilla has shoulder length blonde hair. They are looking up to the right.Farewell Flowers Directory
Gill Hodgson (right) said Queen Camilla "really showed an interest" in their display

The display, which is about 10ft (3m) high, includes foxgloves, peonies, buttercups and white lilacs flowing out of a willow coffin, with a graveyard underneath and a man sitting on a bench with a dog at his feet.

The winning design team includes Ms Hodgson, of Fieldhouse Flowers, Carole Patilla, of Tuckshop Flowers in Birmingham, Georgie Newbery, of Common Farm Flowers in Somerset, and Nicola Hill, of Gentle Blooms in Warwickshire.

Ms Hodgson, who lives near Pocklington, said there had been "a lot of hugging" and "a couple of tears" when the women saw the certificate at the display on Tuesday morning.

"People are drawn to the height and beautiful flowers without realising until they get closer that it's actually a display of funeral flowers," she said.

"Suddenly, they realise how beautiful they are without thinking it has to be mournful or macabre."

Farewell Flowers Directory A flower display with a sculpture of a man sat on a bench with a dog at his feat and an elevated willow coffin with flowers bursting out of it. Long grass and a graveyard can be seen below the coffin.Farewell Flowers Directory
The winning display at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

The group aims to remove plastic floral foam and single-use plastic from funeral floristry.

Carole Patilla, also a co-founder of The Farewell Flowers Directory, said: "We're so delighted that we did the thing people told us we couldn't do: we took funeral flowers and a coffin to RHS Chelsea and won gold.

"Our display shows that flowers, thoughtfully and sustainably designed, can move people; they can reflect and celebrate a life; and they can tread lightly on the planet."

The installation was sponsored by the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management, Green Funeral Flowers Online Course by Tuckshop Flowers, New Covent Garden Flower Market and Workplace Bereavement.

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