At Royal Exchange flowers, we are passionate local florists, and we want to share our passions with you. We have dual passions; flowers and the city of Manchester, with that in mind we have written a short history of the city, and its connection to flowers and nature.
Manchester has a rich and varied history, which is no surprise for a city that was an integral part of the British Empire. It is renowned for its part in the Industrial Revolution, as a capital of sports and entertainment, for its innovative transport connections (the Manchester-Liverpool Road railway station was the world’s first inter-city passenger railway station) and it holds a special place in the history of Scientific progress. Ernest Rutherford first split the atom at the University of Manchester in 1917. Alan Turing, the father of the computer is from the area, and the first graphene was isolated here in 2004. Manchester also as a rich history of connection to and love for the natural world. In fact, the Manchester coat of arms incorporates bees, a nod to the industriousness of the city and to the importance of pollination, flowers and nature to the world and its future.
As with many important British towns and cities, Manchester began life as a Roman settlement between two rivers, the Medlock and the Irwell, and has grown from there. At the turn of the 19th century the rapid expansion of the city, initiated by the rise in textile manufacture during the Industrial revolution Manchester became the world’s first industrialised city. It is now part of the UK’s second most populous urban area, with a population of 2.7 million, although the city has a population of around 600,000 Despite this fact, Manchester managed to retain a significant number of green spaces and the city now boasts 47 parks withing the city centre, and numerous other nature reserves and botanic gardens in the greater Manchester area. In fact, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, has the Manchester Garden which offers a new perspective on post-industrial cities, champions green spaces and promotes the need for sustainability as the world marches on. It highlights the way water can be managed by considered planting to improve drainage, the use of trees chosen specifically for the resistance to future climate change, using plants and flowers to improve soil productivity in urban environments, and demonstrating how parks, gardens and greenspaces can beneficial not only to the environment but can also improve the economic and social aspects of a city. Created by florists with a passion, it is truly an eye-opening and thought-provoking place to visit.
The promotion of this sustainable approach to gardens and flowers did not begin with the RHS Chelsea Flower show, far from it. In fact, Greater Manchester is home to more than 500 sites of Biological importance, and 57 nature reserves, including canals and reservoirs. One of the most important of these sites is the Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden, named after a local alderman who donated the park to the city in 1915, and is part botanical garden and part wildlife habitat. A walled rock garden is the main feature of the gardens and was designed by the renowned botanist Robert Wood Williamson. As the garden are laid out on a south-facing slope they are sheltered from the elements which allows a large number, and variety of non-hardy species to thrive in a micro-climate. Small waterfalls cascade down the rock gardens into a pond surrounding by native and non-native plants and flowers such as royal ferns, marsh marigolds and irises.
With such a wealth of nature in the city, and the greater Manchester area, it is unsurprising that there are numerous florists and flower delivery services in the area. The green-fingered residents of the area take pride in their flowers and floral displays. This is reflected in the abundance of local, independent florists, who provide high quality, and innovative bouquets to cater for every need and situation. Manchester is a wonderful place to start in your search for the perfect flower, and we are the florists who can provide you with all of you flower delivery needs, with hand crafted bouquets and the ability to create anything you can think of.
