Academy of Floral Art to bring Poltimore House into bloom
Over 40 tutors and students from one of the UK’s leading flower schools, the Academy of Floral Art near Exeter, are joining forces to create a series of floral displays in the Grade II listed Poltimore House to mark St George’s Day weekend.
Abandoned in the 1980s and now undergoing extensive renovation by the Poltimore House Trust, Poltimore is a Devonshire landmark and an evocative setting for a flower festival. Visitors to the Flower Festival will be free to wander through the Tudor courtyard, the Entrance Hall and Salon and admire awe-inspiring floral designs and sculptures, including a specially created rambling rose trellis and a magnificent 8ft tall dragon! Amid the ruin and central to the house a clinical surgical theatre survives, where visitors will find plant specimens, dissections and observations clearly labelled for botanical education, and maybe even some floral Frankenstein experimentations....
Supported by the ladies from Club on the Exe, the Academy of Floral Art will take two full days on site to stage their stunning floral installations, bringing life and nature into the fabric of this historic location.
“We are really excited to be bringing Poltimore House into bloom for St George’s Day,” said Julie Collins, Principal of The Academy of Floral Art. “The Poltimore Flower Festival is going to be a wonderful opportunity to let our creative floral imaginations run wild in celebration of the rawness and beauty of this romantic location.”
Filmographers, Baxter & Ted, shot a beautiful teaser film with the Academy ahead of the Poltimore Flower Festival, which can be viewed here www.academyoffloralart.com/films/
Poltimore House will be open for the Flower Festival between 10.30am and 4.30pm on Saturday 22 April and Sunday 23 April and the entrance fee of £8 will go directly to support the work of Poltimore House Trust.
There will be a selection of delicious food available in the Chapel for lunches and afternoon teas and stalls by:
Liz Couch – a social enterprise business making chocolate, helping people who are living with and beyond cancer.
Joanna from MrsMarvellous.co.uk - making beautiful bespoke quilts, cushions, aprons & cosies that capture precious memories.
Laura Ann Osborne of Southwest Body Castings
Pinnacle Icing - specialising in decorated biscuits all royal iced by hand and homemade in the Otter Valley.
The Magpies - selling vintage and up-cycled jewellery, gift tags, book marks etc.
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