Stories

Siân Swinton

The bees, and their place in the ecosystem are an important thing to Sian Swinton of Moss Carder who has recently set up a floristry business in her own home township of Lochboisdale. She is very conscious of the environment and how our actions affect our landscape.

“I didn’t want to name the business after myself so I decided to point out that I’m quite eco-friendly and give a sustainable message with the business name.”

Decision made, Siân has named her business Moss Carder, after a species of bumble bee that you can find here in Uist. Uist is one of the last places where you’ll find the great yellow bumble bee and it has recently been spotted on Daliburgh machair.

Siân set up her floristry business in 2019, while she still lived on the mainland. This young business has come through peaks and troughs in this short time, but things have taken a turn for the better since uprooting and moving to Uist. Through various difficulties (and, of course, the pandemic!) Sian rose to the occasion and thought that she’d try it all again, this time at ‘home’.

The business has blossomed in ways that she couldn’t have expected.

“While we lived in Helensburgh, I worked hard to get some wedding bookings to start my own business but then the pandemic hit. Covid was a total nightmare since all the events that needed flowers were cancelled. I had to get a job in a supermarket just to get the bills paid.

When we moved home, I thought I’d just do some bits here and there but then when I got back, I was telling some people about it and one thing led to another. It snowballed and suddenly I’m really busy.”

Siân and her husband Max, a writer and photographer from Peebles, left their Helensburgh flat for the Hebridean air in August 2021. 

“We weren’t in Helensburgh for any particular reason at that point, so we decided to move home. I was worried about what Uist would be like for Max, he only visited in 2018 for a week in the spring. I was worried about what it was going to be like for him in the winter, but he has ended up loving it. We’re both into photography, so the amazing scenery is a bonus as well.” 

Siân has been a busy bee lately and is currently studying at Art and Design NC course with UHI, as she juggles the business in Lochboisdale.

Moss Carder have also hosted various floristry and wreath making events. “We’ve done lots of workshops and it’s something I really enjoy for the social aspect. Some people have bought a ticket and have come alone, or they might know one person there but by the end they’ve had a nice time and they go home with what they’ve made. It’s a social kind of thing where people can leave feeling they’ve accomplished something at the end. We’ve had a few people asking us about a flower club or other workshops and one of the big things that we want to move towards is more community focused activities.”

A flower club would be a monthly meeting where people could meet and learn from visiting florists or gardeners with workshops of either flower arrangement or growing, getting the most out of their green fingers and the seasons throughout the year.

“We have lots of local experts here. I’ll often be doing one of these workshops and quite often I’m learning from them. The level of knowledge they have here is great and I’d like to reach out to more people locally. There are plenty of gardeners and horticulturists on the islands and people who have magnificent gardens and maybe we could get them involved in giving workshops to others or supplying flowers. “

As well as hosting workshops, where people can become best buds, Moss Carter is hoping to start growing their own supply of flowers. It is their hope that less stock is bought into the island, keeping things more local. 

“I’ve always wanted to have a space to grow things. At the moment we have been trying to use the path of least resistance to get flowers onto the island which is basically by using a wholesaler who gets the flowers to Glasgowrom the auction from Holland, and then DR MacLeod will bring them to us here. We’d have to find the money from somewhere to build a polytunnel or greenhouse or something so we’d be able to grow our own flowers.”

“In the Western Isles we have lots and lots and lots of heather. Some florists on the mainland will buy it in, and pay heavily for it. We have lovely yellow Tansey in the summer and they grow really well but they have a limited life, especially with the weather. They’ll flower for a few weeks but a polytunnel would give them an extended season. At the moment there are people growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables in polytunnels so it would be good to have one that’s dedicated to just flowers so we can offer a wider range of bouquets.”

Siâns polytunnel would be mainly for more delicate flowers that wouldn’t do well outside in our blustery Hebridean conditions.

The Moss Carder business continues to strengthen and Siân has been delighted with the local response to her venture. “I don’t want to sound like I’m gushing but I’ve genuinely been absolutely blown away by how supportive and encouraging people have been, even a year later. People have been so good to me and plenty of people support me online as well. The community has been so generous to me and they all really do look out for each other.

It’s this local community which has allowed me to be able to do this and I’m very excited about it.”

You grow girl!