Dried Flower Artist - Poppy Wilson
We believe that your home is a reflection of your style, everyone should be able to enjoy curating a home full of treasures with meaning that they love.
Cotswold Flora offers beautifully handcrafted home décor pieces made from our British grown and dried flowers. We aim to create works of art which you won’t have seen before that suit a variety of interiors both rustic and modern.
Our work is influenced by the Japanese principle of ‘Wabi Sabi’ whereby peace is found within imperfections, with an appreciation for having less possessions whilst acknowledging the beauty in the transience of nature.
Poppy is the dried flower artist and driving force behind Cotswold Flora, yet when she started she didn’t have the conventional background in art or horticulture that you might expect. Cotswold Flora was launched in Spring 2022 by Poppy Wilson, formerly Poppy Lewis, an Animal Science Graduate from The University of Nottingham.
Having grown up on the family farm near Cheltenham, after graduating she worked at a local Kennel and then on to rehoming pets for Blue Cross Charity. Wanting to make the most of her studies she accepted a more scientific role as a Research Technician working with a complete range of farm animals both on site and on farms across Gloucestershire.
Capable of many roles but lacking the passion, she went in search of something whereby she could express her love of product design and interiors. In an attempt to try something new Poppy started growing her own flowers to sell at market and soon discovered the shelf life of dried flowers was much better to work with than fresh.
Experimenting with dried flowers and materials readily available to her on the farm where she lives, led to the creation of the first Botanical Stag Head. As time went by dried flower varieties were refined as she learnt what grew well and kept its vibrancy of colour and in 2022, she was able to launch Cotswold Flora full time.
Our name “Cotswold Flora” reflects the area of the UK where we are based in Winchcombe on the edge of the Cotswolds. The “Flora” is associated with the flowers we grow. It also represents the flora which is available to us in the local area such as pinecones and teasels which we use in our floral faux taxidermy Stag Heads.
Our logo features a poppy seed head in a nod to the dried flower artist behind our creations. You might have noticed that a lot of our designs include dried poppy seed heads as a continuation of the brand and also because they grow very well here and we love their exquisite forms.
Cotswold Flora’s first workspace
Cotswold Flora’s current workshop
Our first workshop consisted of a big table in the attic of Poppys home, many floral wreaths and botanical designs were created in this space including our first prototype Botanical Stag Head. Whilst it was basic, the attic workshop provided a space to design and create. In 2023 a move into the container in the orchard was a big milestone for Cotswold Flora as plant matter was no longer trapsed through the house.