CHRISTMAS AT DODDINGTON
The home of seasonal, intuitive and expressive floral design and experiences.
The cutting garden, situated within the ancient walls of Doddington’s Kitchen Garden, is a heavenly-scented secret store of natures most glorious delights. Stem upon stem, bloom upon bloom of good old fashioned English cottage garden flowers. Grown naturally with love and care until the time is right for picking.
Each stem is then carefully, intuitively chosen and worked into a beautiful bouquet or arrangement for a wedding or event by flower grower, plantswoman and seasonal florist Rachel.
Rachel’s connection to her cutting garden is visceral, she is as much part of the garden as it is part of her. Both a little wild, both utterly wonderful and very much in tune with the rhythms and seasons of the natural world.
Catkin was launched in 2006 by me – Dr Rachel Petheram. My passion for flowers began in 2002 when I grew my own wedding flowers and has blossomed over the years into the artisan floristry, teaching and flower growing offering that is Catkin today.
An ardent champion of British grown flowers, I was at the forefront of the revival of the movement and grow many of my own in the stunning walled Kitchen Garden of Doddington Hall.
A deep connection to the garden and its plants is fundamental to my alternative approach to floristry and teaching. My arrangements are known for capturing the essence of both garden and season and I delight in fostering in my students a deeper connection to nature, with beautiful results.
-Rachel
Flowers can be incredibly powerful as Julie Montagu found out on her visit to Rachel’s cutting garden as part of the Smithsonian Channel TV series ‘An American Aristocrat’s Guide to Great Estates’.
