Flower Picking

Flower Picking in the Isles of Scilly

A day among the narcissi fields with a rag-tag crew of islanders

Tried my hand at Flower Picking today. The crew I worked with were a rag tag bunch of guys with good stories and a variety of quirks and unique experiences that they willingly shared with me.

One guy, Dan, a Boat Captain in the Summer season, said "Ámerican? Don't they do this on the chain gangs in Louisiana prisons...picking flowers I mean"... Apparently I got high marks as I lasted the full day...The back breaking work sometimes has people quit as quickly as 40 minutes!

The beautiful narcissi fields surrounded by protective hedges that characterize the Scilly Islands landscape.

The process of harvesting these delicate flowers requires precision and care.

Flower picking is a traditional winter occupation for many islanders who work in tourism during summer.

Each narcissi bud is picked carefully to ensure it blooms perfectly once it reaches mainland shops.

The Isles of Scilly are patchworked with tiny fields surrounded by high protective hedges that, during the winter, are filled with flowers. Over a dozen different varieties of narcissi are grown on the Islands which bloom much earlier than in other parts of the UK, thanks to the temperate climate. The first flowers are cut in October, depending on the weather of course, and the last in March, giving a good winter crop and making flowers the main agricultural product on the Islands.

The flowers are picked whilst still in bud, so that by the time they reach the shops on the mainland, they are still at their best and will last the longest. The winter work serves a good purpose in that those who work for the summer tourist industry can often find employment out of season.

The Isles of Scilly are located 28 miles off the southwestern tip of Cornwall. With their unique microclimate, these islands have been the center of flower farming in the UK for generations.

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