Stephanie Harris of florist business The Rose Garden in Great Dunmow. Picture: THE ROSE GARDEN Staff at The Rose Garden Florist in Great Dunmow have been celebrating several pieces of good news.

The Rose Garden in Great Dunmow’s window for Remembrance Sunday. Picture: THE ROSE GARDEN The family owned business was awarded third place in the British Floristry Association Awards, an organisation which has 8,000 member florists, for Florist Website of the Year 2020.

There were 21 nominations in the category and 10 finalists from across the UK.

The Rose Garden was also shortlisted for the Retail Florist Shop of the Year 2020 category, and got into the final 10 from a list of 41. This year’s awards were held online.

The Rose Garden has also been included in the prestigious Good Florist Guide, described as the gold standard of floristry. It is a merit-based guide where each florist has to undergo a rigorous evaluation process. Stephanie Harris of florist business The Rose Garden in Great Dunmow. Picture: THE ROSE GARDEN Owner Stephanie Harris and staff are also celebrating their fifth year in business by leaving packs of bulbs around their delivery areas for the next few weeks.

“It’s fabulous,” Stephanie said of her successes in the British Floristry Association Awards and the Good Florist Guide.

“I’m absolutely over the moon. It’s a huge accolade for our staff and the town. We’ve worked really hard for it.”

Stephanie said she doesn’t know where the time has gone over the last five years. A Remembrance day window at The Rose Garden florist in Dunmow. Picture: ROSE GARDEN On Wednesday they stayed open until 8pm before lockdown and offered private shopping appointments.

From today onwards, while their door is shut, Stephanie stressed they are still at work, and are offering contactless deliveries or click and collect. They are available on the telephone, or through the website. The QR code on the shop front door also links to the website.

“Everything we have is on the website,” she said.

“We do bouquets, Christmas decorations, gift plants, funeral flowers.”

They offer Zoom consultations and telephone consultations for funeral flowers, to give a more personal touch.

Stephanie said they were busy during the first lockdown and were grateful for the support from people who had chosen to #ShopLocal.She added: “The community has supported us all the way through. They could not have been more lovely with all the shops.“Each and every one who comes in describes how much they want to support us – we are very grateful.”See the website www.therosegardenflorists.co.uk or telephone 01371 872882. You may also want to watch: