Constance Spry
Keep Calm and Carry On
January 3, 1960
Today is the 40th anniversary of the death of the florist Constance Spry.
In 1929, Constance - who went by Connie - unveiled her first floral shop window display, and she shocked London by using hedgerow flowers.
Ever the trailblazer, Connie began creating flower arrangements for dinner parties. Her work made her an immediate hit with the socialites of her time. Her success led her to go into business, and she opened a flower shop as well as a flower-arranging school. Connie designed the flowers for the coronation of H.M. The Queen in 1953. During WWII, Connie gave lectures encouraging people to grow their own food.
A June 20, 1945 article on Connie from the Corsicana Daily Sun out of Texas, said:
"Constance Spry, the English woman who not only arranges and sells flowers - but also grows them - carried on all through the blitz. On one occasion, a bomb struck her house - it trembled - the roof sagged, but the building held, and Constance went right on working.
At the corner of Berkeley Square, in the most elegant district of London, lives Constance Spry with her flowers... [and her] new-kind of flower shop. There is a bridal department and a department for boutonnieres and corsages, a department for fresh flowers, one for trimming on hats, and a department for day and evening dresses.
In her greenhouse, Constance cultivates some rare and exotic beauties. They are used to decorate the homes and tables of clients, and they are also sent to recreation homes for soldiers - spreading joy to many.”