At the venerable age of 91, Eileen Beach Kelly has had a beautiful book published, aptly entitled: “Say it with Flowers – Flowers, Fun and Friendship”. This autobiography is the latest achievement in a lifetime of creativity and a great love and enthusiasm for all things floral.
The book, written with Samantha Cutler, gives a fascinating insight into the development of floral art over the years, with Eileen being a forerunner in many areas of it. Eileen was an innovator in new ways of displaying flowers to their best advantage, preserving flowers, working with dried and artificial blooms and using new materials such as plastic ribbons and flowers as they became more available in NZ. Eileen was one of the early Interflora members after it started in New Zealand, and was later employed as their first Field Officer.
Eileen is the daughter of May and Clem Beach who farmed in the Raglan area from 1939 to 1961 (Eileen also commissioned a book documenting their story –“The Beachs of Karioi” 2015). After a happy childhood in Raglan when Eileen and her brothers were never short of exciting activities out on the farm, she took positions with the Chronicle and then Petchells Store. Her interest in floristry started at a young age when she was able to enter creations at local school and horticultural shows. She did a short stint with the renowned florist Douglass Fairweather in Hamilton, and then her parents purchased a shop for her in Frankton, in 1954. This became Floriste Ilene, which became one of the three biggest in New Zealand, and which persisted for over 40 years, with various owners.
Her eye for colour and design led her to take jobs in renowned interior design shops such as Hurdley’s Boutique Interior Décor, in Hamilton. A move to Melbourne increased her knowledge and skills in this area, as well as in floristry. On returning to Hamilton, Eileen owned shops selling artificial flowers, a gift shop and even a kitchen and bathroom shop!
She taught floral art at Hamilton schools and Polytech and sat on the examining board for trainee florists.
As if this wasn’t enough, Eileen was fully engaged in her community, being a very active member of Altrusa and an essential participant in putting together the annual Christmas Festival displays at Tamahere Church.
Her move back to Raglan in the late 1990s gave Eileen a huge new project, with the development of Hillfields Cottage and garden on a few acres of her parents’ land in Greenslade Road. Over her years there she developed a stunning English country garden, orchards and a stream, all running down to the water. The garden was showcased in numerous publications, including the NZ Home and Garden magazine. Eileen started offering garden tours and morning teas to busloads of enthusiastic gardeners. She was also able to supply flowers for some weddings.
Eileen’s aim in publishing her story is to describe her floristry history. Also, she believes she is the only person in New Zealand who has grown up with both floral art and floristry since the late 1940s, and who is still involved today. Eileen said that for many years she has been asked, “Why don’t you write a book?”. And now she has.
The final page in the book reflects on how friends and flowers are alike. For example: “Friends are like flowers – you can’t have too many!” This is so appropriate for a woman who sets so much store on both.
Eileen has been a staunch and long-term supporter of the Raglan Museum and has donated copies of her book to be sold for museum funds. This attractively designed book with numerous colourful photographs and all its stories of a life well-lived is available for sale at the Raglan Museum and IHub for $35.
