Wet weather threatening flower event

Ashley Evers-Swindell said she had "everything crossed" for some dry weather soon

Wet weather could ruin plans to welcome visitors into fields at a flower farm, organisers fear.

Last year about 10,000 people paid to visit Shropshire Petals, near Newport, to see the flowers.

But the company, which specialises in eco-friendly confetti made from dried blooms, said there had not been enough dry days for it to plant its seeds.

As a result, it said it was possible its open-fields event in August might have to be cancelled.

Shropshire Petals started making biodegradable confetti more than 40 years ago, but decided to open up 25 acres of the site to visitors in 2022.

The first year's event had to be cancelled, but marketing manager Ashley Evers-Swindell said "2023 was magical", adding "all the stars aligned and we opened the flower field - it was just incredible".

Visitors came from all over the UK, she said, and she had "every finger crossed right now to make sure those seeds go in and we get a good flower crop".

The constant wet weather throughout the spring has left no window to plant flowers

The farm also cultivates potatoes, rapeseed and wheat and Ms Evers-Swindell said: "Everyone is a little bit on the stressed side."

She said it had been possible to use the short dry spell over the weekend to plant potatoes, but said the lack of time to plant the flowers left them in a "real horrendous pickle".

Wet weather was "probably one of the biggest" problems facing farming right now, she said.

But she added: "We will do our best and try and be as resilient as we can."