'Blooming hot' heatwave sees festival open early

Ashley Evers-Swindell said the farm had had its driest spring in years

A flower farm has opened to the public a week ahead of schedule after a prolonged hot spell caused plants to bloom early.

Shropshire Petals grows larkspur and cornflowers to make biodegradable confetti, but has struggled to time its annual Shropshire Petalfields festival in recent years.

The event has proved a big draw for people searching for the perfect Instagram shot, or simply visitors wanting to enjoy the view, with more than 20,000 people expected by the time it closes on 3 August.

Ashley Evers-Swindell, marketing manager at the Newport farm, said moving the festival to open a week earlier on 24 July had been a tough decision but was the "right thing to do".

"It's been a really dry spring... everything has bloomed much earlier," she said.

The firm has struggled with the weather in recent years, with a similar hot spell in 2022 forcing it to cancel the festival, meaning it lost out on up to £20,000.

The following year, wet weather meant the farm found it difficult to plant the seeds - but the event finally went ahead in mid-August.

The larkspur are already coming into bloom, meaning the fields will be open earlier than usual

"Every year is a learning experience, you have to be so quick to move," Mrs Evers-Swindell said.

Met Office figures suggest that the UK has recorded its warmest spring on record this year and its driest in more than 50 years.

Shropshire Petals said between March and June it had had just over a third of the rain it had last year.

"Since early spring, April time, the guys have been non-stop irrigating," Mrs Evers-Swindell said.

"Because we are part of a bigger farm, about 2,000 acres, we've got potatoes that need a lot of water so we have a lot of equipment and technology for irrigation."

Cornflowers, sunflowers, and larkspur are amongst the blooms on offer at Shropshire Petals

The flowers fields are about the size of 14 football pitches and keeping them watered is a huge task.

However, Mrs Evers-Swindell said the result was "such a beautiful field this year" and she was "excited to see what people make of it".

"The beauty of this field, particularly, is that it's on a beautiful crest of a hill so you've got some really gorgeous vistas."

She added that the size of the site meant that it also rarely felt busy for those looking for the perfect photo.

For those who had already booked tickets for the original dates (31 July to 10 August), co-organisers Shropshire Festivals said it would contact ticket holders and offer a new date or a refund.

Mrs Evers-Swindell said she is excited to see visitors' reactions to the fields