|
|
 |
| |
Marco Wouters at Angel Flowers in Upper Street which caters to some famous customers |
The sweet blooming smell of success
It’s freesias for Mum and tuber roses for scent – florist Marco Wouters understands the language of flowers, writes Peter Gruner
HE sent out 10,000 roses on St Valentine’s Day – but his earliest memory is of himself aged three, stealing flower heads from a Belgium city centre and giving them to his mother.
Marco Wouters runs one of the most popular florists in north London, with customers including Elaine Paige, Sue Pollard and the Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason.
In Europe he says everyone brings flowers, no matter the occasion, but in the UK we are still stuck on the idea that they are for special days like birthdays or lunches with friends and relatives.
He has run Angel Flowers at the Angel, Islington, for 12 years and also runs a smaller outlet in the nearby N1 Shopping Centre.
Marco says he can’t remember a time when he was not interested in flowers.
“Since stealing the flower heads to give to my mother they have been a hobby and an interest. I have been running flower shops since I was 21.
“The most popular flower depends on the season but currently tulips are all the rage. But the colour and variety change with the seasons. You have white for spring and orange and red in summer and autumn, including gorgeous red hydrangeas and peonies.”
Most of what he sells comes from the Netherlands, where flowers are mass-produced. “I can get anything from there in 24 hours. They deliver four times a week.”
He has about 40 to 50 varieties in the shop with popular potted plants including bromeliads and orchids.
“They may be cheaper in supermarkets,” he added, “but from a shop like ours you get longer stems, better colour and variety and I believe better quality.”
The secret of long lasting flowers? “I don’t believe all these fairy tales of putting sugar or whatever in the vase. I’ve been keeping flowers for 30 years. Clean water is the best way to make them last. Ideally, you should clean your vase out every day with fresh water although even I don’t do that at home.
“But if you keep the water reasonably clean they should last a good five to seven days depending on the temperature indoors. Unfortunately, a well centrally heated room may mean the flowers are gone in three days.”
When he’s back home in Belgium he always takes his mother freesias. “They are her favourite. No matter what else I buy her, whatever the variety, she still prefers old-fashioned freesias”.
He says he has a highly developed sense of smell and can identify each flower individually. “The tuber rose, for example, may not be the prettiest of flowers but they have the strongest smell. It’s very much like a strong jasmine.
“Sometimes I take them home and hide them somewhere around the house. Then when I walk in next time I can smell them everywhere.
“These days cultivated roses have been designed to last and look good but not to smell.
“I can smell tulips, but not when it is very cold.”
• Angel Flowers 60 Upper Street, N1.
Tel: 020 7704 6312
www.angel-flowers. co.uk |
|
|
|
|
|
