Festival of Blossom community project at Ham House and Garden

These local community groups created artwork and poetry inspired by blossom, which you can find on display at Ham House and Garden in the Orangery Café until 1 June 2025. 

Read below to discover more about the work created as part of this project, from embroidery to poetry.

Blossom poetry, Ham Youth Club and Lisa Jennings, 2025

Blossom has inspired poets for generations. Young people from Ham Youth Club took part in a series of poetry writing workshops, facilitated by local poet, Lisa Jennings.

These workshops brought together the voices and ideas from different generations in the local community. Together, they explored what blossom means to them. The poems  capture their thoughts on nature, time and beauty.  

You can listen to Lisa Jennings reading some of the poems by clicking the audioplayers below.

The group also collated and bound their work to create poetry books which are on display at the Orangery Café.

Blossom embroidery, Age UK Embroidery and Knitting Group, 2025 

The Embroidery and Knitting Group at Age UK Wellbeing Centre Twickenham were inspired by the blossom. Members of the group have each interpreted the floral theme to produce a variety of work. See it on display in the Orangery Café.

Blossom canopy, RHACC, 2025 

Students from RHACC Hillcroft’s SEND art class have responded to the subject of blossom. They explored several printing techniques and materials to create a suspended canopy.

The students were inspired by flower festivals that take place in Europe where supersize flowers often adorn costumes and floats. They aimed to create the experience of looking up through a canopy of leaves, highlighting the different colours and shapes and shadows from sunlight.  

Thank you 

Thank you to everyone involved in the project. Festival of Blossom is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.