About…

Stems & Vines joins together the two passions of our founder & creator, Philippa Smith

It started whilst on an ad-FRENCH-ture; driving from Paris to Nice through the vineyards of central France (Loire Valley, Burgundy, Rhone Valley, Languedoc & Provence)

A short detour took us to kayak on the Ardeche but it also meant I met my muse… a female shop owner sat on a little bistro table in the entrance of her shop, enjoying a glass of wine in the afternoon sunshine.

There were no flowers in sight that day, but they were already a feature in my future and I knew, I needed to create for myself a life where I could be doing, just as she was.

Next came the idea of Flowers & Wine together and the name Stems & Vines came quickly after that - and there is has sat in my head as a “future project” for almost 10 years, whilst I was working out which parts of the life of a florist I wanted to focus on.

The last 6 years running Francis Smith Flowers as a London Florist doing a bit of everything, always being busy and very rarely saying no to an opportunity has meant the breadth of experience I have is really all encompassing; overcoming hurdles small and large (global pandemic sized ones), all my wonderful couples who have chosen me as their wedding florist, the families who have let me create the final flowers for their loved ones, my regular subscribers who have continued to support me by receiving my super local bouquets (like Freddie’s but better) and everyone else I have called a client, a customer, fellow flower fan & friends :

T H A N K Y O U x

Back to Stems & Vines, whilst it’s been sat in my head for almost a decade it has taken various different forms and rest assured they will all come to fruition however for now, at this time, the universe has aligned to allow me to bring Stems & Vines, the physical space, to life. In a part of London-Town that I can literally call “my patch” - 35 years ago when Queen Charlotte’s hospital was still situated on Goldhawk Road, I was born and taken home to the flat my parents owned by Baron’s Court tube station; safe to say my homing-pigeon tendencies are strong!

The Askew Road community is awesome, I am so grateful to have been part of it for 11 years. In the summer of 2013, I helped Jasper Gorst & the opening team of The Oak W12 bring his Notting Hill concept to the 7 Stars Roundabout. And, for the last 6 years as the local florist, if who if you knew where I was, well done you! Never shying away from making a song & dance of almost every situation, it seems being loud about my own business is something I probably still can’t do so well… until I open a flower shop & wine bar on Askew Road and I paint it PINK!

Stems & Vines is about making sure you can drink delicious wine, in a gorgeous environment, you feel safe, comfortable and relaxed in.

We will be lively, we will be joyful, we will be excited to see you and host you in our space.

We will let our creativity flow, we will be making the most of what Mother Nature provides and we will be celebrating everyone who is making the small differences to ensure that these luxuries we take from her have an ever decreasing negative impact on the world itself.

When it comes to the wine and the flowers we will be playful, and innovative, we don’t ever want to be boring or predictable in style, design or experience.

We know you’re going to love it already and we cannot wait for the unforgettable memories we are going to make and share there together.