20 years on, farmer celebrates success of his confetti idea
IN THE 1990s, farmer Charles Hudson had an idea for using real petals as confetti.
His workmate on farmland in Pershore thought he had gone crazy.
But his idea to grow flowers and dry the petals to produce a natural biodegradable confetti was far from ridiculous and now the Real Flower Petal Confetti Company at Wick, near the Worcestershire market town, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Now the delphiniums which are turned into confetti have been planted in a Union flag pattern to celebrate the company’s 20th year of growing.
It is also an idea that has been copied many times since Mr Hudson – the first to grow flowers for confetti - started doing it in 1997.
He said: “It was a completely novel concept and it grew very quickly.
“We got little bits of publicity in magazines like House and
Garden and it was syndicated all over the world.”
The eco idea has appealed to a wide range of people and orders now come in to the business from around the globe while some foreign travellers even make pilgrimages to the farm during the flowering period to see the brightly coloured fields.
The estate now consists of 1,000 acres of arable farmland and river meadow, woodland, cricket bat willows, rental cottages and a hydroelectric scheme.