In full bloom
Her unique artistry has transformed the way we display flowers, and now Paula Pryke is getting ready to embark on a new challenge
Heady scents from favourite flowers remind celebrity florist Paula Pryke of the various stages of her life. Orange blossom takes her back to the Suffolk garden of her childhood, wild meadow flowers to a special moment with her mum, pink roses to her wedding in the 1980s, and the intoxicating smell of peonies to her first flower shop.
These days, Paula is enjoying the sweet smell of success as the florist who changed the way a generation views flower arrangements. Bold combinations of colour, scent and foliage are her signature and the rooms of her Suffolk home are filled with long-stemmed lilies, hyacinths, stocks and freesias. She’s written 18 books that have been translated into more than 15 languages including Hebrew, Russian and Japanese.
Her shops have attracted clients such as
Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett and Delia Smith, while her school has trained some of the world’s best-known florists.
Yet it all started 50 years ago with some simple meadow flowers for her mother. ‘I was helping mum tidy up the house,’ recalls Paula, 57. ‘As a finishing touch, I picked some wild flowers and arranged them in a vase as a gift. I was about seven and remember admiring they way they lifted the whole room and instantly made it look better.
‘I loved wild flowers in particular, and when a friend came to play I was really upset that she wanted to bake cakes, rather than crawl down the railway embankment to admire the wild flowers with me.’
Neither Paula’s father Ralph, a self-employed builder, nor her mother Gladys, went to grammar school or university, so they had been keen for Paula and her two older brothers to have the best education. Paula trained as a history teacher and her first job was at a large comprehensive school in Romford, Essex. ‘I cheered up the classroom by buying a filing cabinet, painting it bright yellow and placing my collection of pot plants on the top,’ she says. ‘When arsonists burned down the classroom, I was devastated!
‘Then one morning I drove a friend to Heathrow for an early flight, and across London I saw flower shops coming to life with early morning deliveries. When I was young, you only went to a florist if you needed a wreath for a funeral. Suddenly I realised there was a burgeoning industry and it prompted me to enrol on a four-week floristry course at the Constance Spry Flower School during the school holiday. I loved every second.’
Paula went on to follow a more intensive course at Southwark College in south London, and then worked as an apprentice for a chain of florists in London. Quietly supporting her was architect husband Peter Romaniuk, now 62. ‘Peter was my inspiration. He persuaded me to follow my dream, but his belief that you should always be the best you can in whatever you do also made me strive to be exactly that.
‘Peter influenced me significantly – not surprising, given that architects are very open to other artistic endeavours. I later discovered that architects and florists are very interconnected. I’ve worked with a lot of them when they’ve designed reception desks or public areas. Marriage to Peter has helped me appreciate the relationship between buildings and flowers and their shared space.’
In 1988, with Peter’s encouragement, Paula bought the leasehold on a rundown bicycle shop in Islington for £280,000. The couple painted it white, sanded floorboards and moved into the small flat above. ‘It was a busy but happy time, often with me working 18-hour days. I bought a small van and did the
deliveries myself. We were around the corner from a theatre so celebrities such as Diana Rigg popped in and George Harrison sent his chauffeur to collect arrangements.’ The game-changing moment, though, was when Terence Conran paid a visit. ‘He came into the shop, and later described it as the best flower shop outside Paris. I won the contract to look after his entire empire.’
That visit changed Paula’s fortune and within a year she had opened her own flower school. As an antidote to all the fame and work, she and Peter bought a small, empty post office in a Suffolk village. Initially, they intended to renovate it as a holiday home to escape to with daughters Lizzie, 17, and 15-year-old Anne. ‘Becoming parents changed the way we spent weekends. We yearned for country walks with our dogs Connie and Cosmos, and we wanted to devote our time to the girls, but it’s become our main family home.
‘The plain brick Victorian building was about 130 years old, with the counter and shop shelves intact, but otherwise derelict,’ says Paula. ‘It wasn’t the chocolate-box thatched cottage I’d dreamed of. Peter wasn’t keen, but as he oversaw the renovation he fell in love! We knocked down walls, re-roofed and put in new flooring and windows and, as light started to flood in, we saw it had the makings of a great family home.’ Peter redesigned the back of the house, adding a large glass garden room and turning an old cart shed into a guest bedroom and bathroom. In the front garden stands the original red phone box. ‘It doesn’t work now,’ says Paula, ‘but sometimes when I’m in the kitchen I look through my front window and see ramblers inside the box, trying to make a call. It always brings a smile to my face.’
Meanwhile, creating arrangements for celebrity parties, society weddings, magazine shoots and international launches continues to provide challenges. ‘I’ve climbed ladders, balanced on balconies and even dragged giant displays to the top of Tower Bridge. Floristry involves a mad adrenalin rush!’ reveals Paula. ‘It isn’t all about glamour, and running a business, especially in a recession, is tough. I had to close some shops and laying off staff has been the hardest part of my work. But my husband says that even if I won the lottery I’d still work with flowers and he’s right!’
Awarded an OBE in 2014, Paula is often found at 5am at Covent Garden market. But she’s at her happiest in her cosy home beside the Aga and woodburner, arranging flowers or watching movies with her daughters.
‘Anne has a passion for flowers and has taken endless photos for me, while Lizzie is artistic and has studied make-up at college.’
Now Paula wants to make her husband’s dream of running a country pub come true. ‘When he discovered one for sale locally and asked what I thought, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Now we’ll run it together – and already I’m planning the pub garden, filled with lots of amazing flowers!’
‘Terence Conran came into the shop and later described it as the best flower shop outside Paris,’
SAYS PAULA