Woman behind company creating floral displays for…

Woman behind company creating floral displays for Stacey Soloman, Mrs Hinch and Liverpool One

The streets of Liverpool ONE are blooming with flowers in vibrant shades of sunny yellow and sapphire blue as the city prepares to take its place in Eurovision history.

The blue and yellow displays, representing the colours of the Ukrainian flag in honour of the country's 2022 win, were created by Aintree florist Carmel Kenyon in preparation for the big competition next month.

She said: "There's hydrangeas, roses, a lot of typically British flowers, but we've added sunflowers in all the displays, as it's the national flower of Ukraine.

"Blue flowers aren't very common, and we like to keep it botanically correct, so we only chose natural blue flowers, such as cornflowers and blue delphinium. It was a challenge, especially getting shades to complement the darker blue colours, but they all came together well."

Carmel, 34, is the owner of Poppy Belle Florals, which has previously supplied flowers to Stacey Soloman, Mrs Hinch, TV presenters Vicky Pattinson and Laura Whitmore, and comedian Katherine Ryan. Her new Ukraine-inspired displays can be found on Peter's Lane, Paradise Street and College Lane.

The streets of Liverpool ONE are blooming with blue and yellow flowers for Eurovision 2023 (Poppy Belle Florals)

She said: "Last year we worked on a project with Liverpool ONE called Liverpool in Bloom. We wanted to emulate Chelsea and London in Bloom, when the streets are taken over with flowers.

"It was really successful, with lots of people coming to see the flowers. This year, the plan was to do Liverpool in Bloom again - but of course, we were chosen to host Eurovision, and so we decided to tie it in with the Eurovision theme, and picked the blue and yellow colours to honour the Ukraine flag.

"The feedback we have had has been really wonderful. We do a lot of installation work nationally, so it's lovely being in a project in our home city. We've had so many messages from people sharing the images in support of us. The people of Liverpool are so respectful, we've never had any issues of damage - everyone is protective and proud of the displays.

"We're proud of Liverpool hosting Eurovision anyway; it's not every day you can say your city is hosting such a big event. But to be involved in it is an honour. It's been quite moving especially given the circumstances. We've been able to give that nod of support to Ukraine and make sure our feelings have been portrayed."

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