What started as a love for flowers quickly grew into something much more.
Combining her two passions, Philippa founded Stems and Vines—with the goal of opening a neighbourhood florist with a twist, offering thoughtful arrangements, seasonal stems and a wine bar tucked among the blooms.
With the business flourishing, we caught up with Philippa to delve into the story behind it, exploring the inspirations, challenges and aspirations that have shaped Stems and Vines.
About Philippa Smith
Before becoming a florist, Philippa spent nearly 15 years in hospitality—mostly restaurants, but also pubs and hotels—in both London and her hometown of Tunbridge Wells.
While at university in North London, she lived in Highgate and took a job at The Old White Bear, a gastro pub in Hampstead. That venue was part of The Oak Group, which also included The Oak in Notting Hill, The Bird in Hand in Brook Green, and later The Oak W12 on Goldhawk Road. Her work eventually took her west to manage The Oak W12, bringing her back to the W12 area.
I say back because it was only once I was working at The Oak W12 that I discovered that Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, in its former position was on Goldhawk Rd, where I was born when my parent’s lived in Hammersmith in the 80s.
After nearly a decade in that restaurant group, she knew it was time for a change. She said “I had the realisation that I didn’t want to continue in hospitality at that time, I needed to be doing something else and use my creativity in another way.”
At this point she had already begun experimenting with floristry on the side of her restaurant job, and a gift from her godmother—a four-day Wedding Flowers workshop at The Covent Garden Academy of Flowers—became the turning point.
I fell in love on the very first morning… it felt different and it felt right, I definitely didn’t know how exactly but I knew that this was going to be the thing I did next and hopefully for a long time to come.
Francis Smith Flowers
The origins of Francis Smith – flowers with meaning lie in the local W12 community.
Phil and Vera from Bears Ice Cream Co. knew Philippa from her time at The Oak and knew she was training to become a florist. They introduced her to Lizzie Francis, a fellow W12 resident who wanted to incorporate botanical elements into her incredible workshop space she had created in her home.
That conversation sparked a partnership. Together, they launched Francis Smith – flowers with meaning in 2018, celebrating the symbolism and historical meaning of different flowers and foliage. The brand began with a hyper-local subscription delivery service, alongside floristry for weddings, events, and workshops. During this time, Philippa also freelanced with other London florists, developing her skills and broadening her network.
Lizzie left the business in early 2020, and by March, Philippa had moved into Raluca’s bakery at October26, with a false start due to covid, from the summer of 2020 she’d settled into her new home and was busy selling flowers to many new customers who were all working from home during 2020 and 2021.
Transition from Francis Smith Flowers to Stems and Vines
After over four incredible years working from the basement at October26, Philippa felt ready to take the next step.
I was in the position to find a space of my own – I had thought about creating a flower-shop-wine-bar, “in the future” from about 2015, when I first started my florist journey. And so, it felt that by Spring 2024 I was ready for it to be “the future” and I set out to find a place that I could call Stems & Vines HQ. Having spent the last 12 years in and around Askew Road, I knew it was the ideal neighbourhood to bring my vision to life.
Typical week at Stems and Vines
Currently based at The Askew Gallery pop-up, the week starts on Wednesdays with preparation to make sure the space is ready to receive the flowers from the market early on Thursday morning. Preparation includes cleaning vases and buckets, cutting and folding the paper wraps, and repurposing any leftover flowers—such as dehydrating petals for confetti.
Thursdays start early at the New Covent Garden Market where Philippa handpicks the week’s blooms. When she arrives back at Askew Road Philippa ensures all the flowers are prepared and have a fresh drink of water so that they are ready to be sold in bunches & bouquets from 10 am.
Philippa mentioned that the other important part of Thursdays is ordering from her wine suppliers to ensure she has enough wine for the weekend.
When 2pm comes around we wind-down the floristry side of things and we make sure we have all the elements for the wine bar ready to go…maybe 2pm on a Thursday is a bit early but we like to give people the option! For the moment we are open until 10pm, we are serving wine, British Charcuterie & other bar snacks.
Fridays are for flower deliveries from British flower farmers. This week Philippa has ordered a couple of hundred stems from Back Yard Flowers near Bristol specially for Mother’s Day.
I am so excited to be working with British Flowers again for another spring and summer season… they are superior to anything else you can get.
Flowers and design for the arrangements
Colour is at the heart of Philippa’s process. When discussing how she makes the arrangements she explained:
“I love using blooms that complement each other, and give an overall pleasing look to a bouquet or an arrangement – a big part of it is starting with a flower that is the HERO for the week… and building my selection out from there – to try and make sure that everything can and will go together, but also having choice enough to be able to make lots of different looking bouquets. It doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is in the same colour hue, but rather looking at the tones within a particular flower, bloom or even petal and choosing around that as an initial inspiration. It’s why I LOVE going to the flower market and choosing – it’s so different from ordering online or over the phone.”
Favourite flower or bouquet
“It’s tough to choose,” she admits. “They’re seasonal, so it changes all the time.”
But if she had to pick, dahlias top the list. With hundreds of varieties, they’re bold, show-stopping flowers. “They really are a “look at me” flower, they don’t have scent, they don’t have a crazy long vase life but for the time we enjoy them, they look spectacular!”
Most memorable venues
One of her most significant projects was a three-day wedding at Holywell Hall, a manor house in Lincolnshire.
The event included a welcome dinner, a legal ceremony in the main hall, a symbolic service in the chapel, and a marquee celebration—all culminating in a Sunday farewell gathering.
My team for that worked so hard to create the vision for Alex & Ross and it is still one of the proudest moments of my floristry career.
Subscription service
The hyper-local subscription model, first launched with Francis Smith, continues with Stems & Vines—and soon, it will include wine.
Subscribers choose their frequency—weekly, fortnightly or monthly—and pick from four bouquet sizes. They receive a seasonal hand-tied bouquet on a Friday, at whichever frequency chosen. She said they are “always in our style, British where possible and definitely seasonal, but we try to make them different each time.”
Philippa would like to use as little packaging as possible, so for the hyper-local deliveries they try and sync their deliveries with someone being home so the flowers can be placed into water straight away. “It is less faff for you and minimises the impact where we can.”
And for those eager to pair flowers with their favourite bottle? A wine-and-flowers subscription is on its way. There’s already a waiting list on the website.
Exciting plans for the future
When discussing the future, Philippa said that the next big step is securing a permanent home for Stems & Vines.
She’s been close before so she’s keeping quiet until the deal is signed. What she can reveal is that it will be in the Askew Road area.
In the meantime, she’s got four weekends left at The Askew Gallery pop-up and is inviting everyone to stop by for wine, flowers, and conversation.
She’ll also be open on Mother’s Day Sunday from 8am to 12pm—perfect timing for that special bouquet.
To stay up to date, follow her on Instagram @stems_and_vines or join the mailing list for updates as well as discounts, and details on workshops and events.
West London Community
At Horton and Garton, we know it’s the people behind the places that make this part of London so unique—and we’re proud to share stories like this that celebrate the independent businesses shaping our community.
We are alway championing local businesses so if you’d like to share your story, contact us.
