ParagonPetals

05/09/2026

🦕 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬… 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬! 😂🌸

Well, the dinosaurs certainly brought the chaos today! 😂🦖

We had the absolute pleasure of some company today with the brilliant dinosaurs from Raptors World - Roarsome Dinosaur Entertainment, and honestly, what a laugh!

Little Dozer, cheeky Rexy and naughty Yoshi brought plenty of entertainment, a few wet heads and the occasional person who may never look at a dinosaur the same way again! 😂😂

And yes, before anyone asks… we did have a gazebo malfunction thanks to the wind 🤦🏼‍♀️ So we made an early escape into the craft tent, where the fun continued!

It’s not flowers, but when you have dinosaurs running about causing chaos, it would be rude not to share! 😂🦖

What a brilliant day. Thank you to everyone who came along and joined in the fun! ❤️

05/09/2026

The sun is out and it’s actually looking like quite a lovely day! ☀️

If you’re heading along, do wear decent footwear. It’s not too bad, but there are definitely a few wet and muddy patches underfoot, so sensible shoes are a good shout!

There’s so much to see and do at the Strathaven Agricultural Exposition, with horses, the dog show, fairground, market stalls, vintage tractors, food, Uncle Billy and, of course, the brilliant dinosaurs from Raptors World - Roarsome Dinosaur Entertainment! 🦖

And that’s just some of what’s on offer!

A little reminder too: entry is payable in cash, and it’s worth having some cash with you for other traders as well. Card machine signals can be a bit hit and miss, so it’s always better to be prepared.

So come along, enjoy the sunshine and make the most of what’s looking to be the best of the weather this weekend!

We’ll be there with the flowers, and we’d love to see you. 🌸

Strathaven Agricultural Exposition — come and enjoy a brilliant day out!

04/09/2026

🐴🐶𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲! 🌸🛍️

We’re swapping Lanark for Strathaven this month, tomorrow 5th September and we’re rather excited about it!

We’ll be at the Strathaven Agricultural Exposition with our flowers, surrounded by a whole lot of countryside charm, wonderful traders and plenty of things to see.

And if you’re a dinosaur fan, Raptors World will be bringing fully interactive dinosaurs! 🦖 Whether you’re there for the horses, the animals, the entertainment or just a good wander around, it looks like it’s going to be a brilliant day out.

No age limit on dinosaur excitement! 😂

We’ll be there with our usual mix of flowers, colour and a wee bit of Paragon quirkiness. 💐

So, if you’re heading along, make sure you come and say hello. We’d love to see you!

📍 Over Lethame Showfield, Strathaven

🎟️ £7 entry — under 14s go free! (Cash only)

Who’s coming along? 👀🌸

03/09/2026

🍂 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 🍂

A much quieter month for us this time around… and honestly, that’s entirely by design! 😂

Sometimes you need to slow down, breathe and recharge a little — because doing that now means we’ll be ready to power through the absolute madness that is Christmas when it arrives! 🎄😂

So, here’s where you’ll find us this month…

🌸 STRATHAVEN SHOW
Instead of our usual trip to Lanark this month (which is going to feel very weird! 😢), we’re heading back to the Strathaven Show, where we had a brilliant time last year.

You’ll find us in our own gazebo on the showground, surrounded by lots of other fabulous traders, entertainment and all the usual show-day fun. 🐴🌾

🌿 AUCHINCRUIVE MARKET
A brand new one for us!

We’ve been invited along to the Auchincruive Market, which is primarily a food market but has a small number of crafters each month. The crafter spaces change regularly too, so this will hopefully become another occasional event for us.

We’re looking forward to seeing what it’s all about! 👀

🎶 DARVEL MARKET — THE CORNER
And, of course, we finish the month at our very own local market.

Our Darvel Market is always one of our favourites — a proper little community atmosphere, the café open, live music playing and plenty of lovely things to browse while you shop.

Honestly… what’s not to love? ❤️

And of course, there’s still plenty happening at the cabin throughout the month, along with all the usual orders and floral shenanigans.

Just fewer trips where the car needs to be packed to within an inch of its life! 😂🚗💐

A quieter September… but definitely not a boring one!

September, we’re ready for you. 🍂🌸

02/09/2026

🌸 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡! 🤖

Someone recently asked if my flower photos were AI…

Absolutely not! 😂

Every single flower arrangement you see is 100% my work, made by my own hands. No AI is creating my bouquets, choosing my flowers or arranging them for me!

What I do use is Photoroom to change the background of some photographs. Being a florist with limited space, Scottish weather and approximately 47 things to do at any given moment 😂, having a pretty backdrop isn’t always practical!

The flowers themselves are completely untouched. I’m simply changing the background to show the finished piece off a little better.

And AI in general? 🤷‍♀️

Personally, I think like most things in life, it should be used in moderation.

It can be an incredibly helpful tool, but I think there should always be a human checking what it produces. It shouldn’t replace the person behind the work.

After all, anything can be helpful when you use it sensibly…

Don’t eat the whole cake in one go! 🍰😂
Have a slice. Enjoy it. It’s probably better for you!

There are undoubtedly downsides to AI, but I think a lot of those come down to how humans choose to use it. Pretty much anything can be misused if someone wants to misuse it.

So, popular opinion or unpopular opinion… that’s my take on AI.

Me and Mabel occasionally work together 🤣, but like a good school teacher, I always check her work! 👩🏼‍🏫😂

And when it comes to the flowers…

🌸 They are 100% mine.
🌸 They are made by me.
🌸 And they always will be.

I’m just absolutely rubbish at making fancy backdrops! 😂

AI can have the background… I’ll keep the flowers. 💐

01/09/2026

🌸 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 🌸

🚨 UNPOPULAR OPINION… 🚨

“I can get flowers cheaper at the supermarket.”

Yep.

You absolutely can. 😂

And to be fair, it’s something I — and I’m sure plenty of other florists — hear quite often.

Usually when someone is comparing the price of a florist-designed bouquet with a bunch they’ve picked up while buying their milk, bread and messages. 😂

And I think sometimes people assume florists are charging more simply because… well… we’re florists.

If only it was that simple. 😂

The reality is that supermarkets and independent florists are operating in completely different worlds.

Supermarkets have enormous buying power. They buy flowers in quantities that I can only dream about, often direct from growers and through massive supply networks. That allows them to sell flowers at prices a small independent florist simply cannot match.

Meanwhile, those flowers are making their way through transport, distribution centres, warehouses and eventually onto the shop floor.

Then there’s the florist side of things.

Before I even start making your bouquet, there’s the choosing, ordering and checking of the flowers. Then they need unpacked, conditioned and cared for properly before they ever become part of a design.

And honestly? Some flowers are absolute divas. 😂

Some last forever.

Some hate being moved.

Some decide to flop over dramatically for absolutely no apparent reason.

Knowing which is which, how to care for them and how to use them together is part of the job that you don’t always see when you look at the finished bouquet.

Then comes the actual floristry bit…

Taking a collection of individual stems and turning them into something that suits an occasion, a person, a colour scheme, a budget or simply makes someone smile.

That takes time.

It takes creativity.

It takes experience.

And occasionally, a bit of flower-related persuasion. 😂🌸

So no, I can’t compete with supermarket prices.

I don’t have their buying power.

I don’t have a warehouse.

I don’t have a distribution centre.

And I definitely don’t have space in the cabin for 47,000 roses. 😂

But I do have the knowledge, skill and experience to take those flowers and create something individual with them.

And that’s the difference.

You’re not just paying for the flowers.

You’re paying for everything that happens before they arrive in your hands… and the creativity that turns them into something special.

And honestly, I think that’s a comparison worth understanding. 😉

31/08/2026

🦉𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧, 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 🌸✨

Here we go… the fabulous makes by Unique Creations are now filled with flowers! 🌸✨

They’re all completely different, but I think my favourites have to be the head and the owl! 🦉🌺

Unless they sell before then, I’ll be taking them along to the Strathaven Agricultural Exposition with me this weekend.

I had great fun making these up — I always enjoy getting the chance to do something a little bit different, and I think these definitely qualify as that! 😂

Let me know in the comments… which one is your favourite? 👇🌸

31/08/2026

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫! 😂🍂🌸

Monday ramblings… the shorter version this week! 😂

I think I may have been kidding myself on when I said September would be quieter just because I’m doing less events… because apparently I still have absolutely no intention of sitting down! 😂😂

This weekend I’ll be at the Strathaven Agricultural Exposition, so in between the usual orders and everything else that magically appears on my to-do list, I’ll be busy making lots of lovely things for that too!

Autumn is really starting to show itself in the fresh flowers available at the minute and honestly… I’m not sad about it one little bit! 🍂

The flowers, the foliage, the colours… autumn is just gorgeous! So be prepared to see plenty more of those rich, warm autumnal colours creeping into Paragon Petals over the next few weeks.

BUT… because apparently I can’t just leave things alone, I’m going to have a little experiment with adding in some completely different contrasting colours too! 👀😂

Will it work? Will it be amazing? Will I stand looking at it wondering what on earth I was thinking?

Honestly… who knows! 😂

But one thing is for sure — you’ll all be coming along for the experiment and I’ll let you know how it goes! 🌸🍂

30/08/2026