Do you know Constance Spry, artist in flower decoration, transformed the way flowers were used to decorate the home and broke with tradition in every aspect of flower arranging. From humble beginnings working on a single commission, Spry rose to be the most sought after florist in the country, providing the flowers for the Queen’s wedding and coronation, as well as scores of other Society events; her window displays drew crowds and stopped traffic. Spry not only left her mark in floristry, she was also hugely influential in cookery writing, and invented Coronation Chicken for the main course at the Queen’s coronation banquet in 1953.
In 1929 she set up a small shop in Pimlico which she called “Flower Decorations” to distinguish her work from the standard floral arrangements supplied by other florists.
The move to her shop in South Audley Street marked her arrival as the most fashionable florist in London. It was in the same year she published Flower Decoration, the first of her 13 books and she also established the Constance Spry Flower School. Society weddings were a major part of her work and she turned the first floor of her shop into a wedding room where her innovative crescent-shaped bridal bouquets were much in demand.
Dr Susan Skedd, English Heritage Blue Plaques Historian, said: “Constance Spry transformed the way flowers were used to decorate the home, she married a horticulturist’s knowledge of plants with an artist’s flair for decoration and inspired a generation to search out flowers and plants from the hedgerow, as well as from their gardens, to bring in to their homes and put the art of floristry in reach of all.”
Today’s thriving floristry sector owes a lot to this remarkable lady – who will forever be remembered for transforming the way flowers are used.