Flower power
After two decades in senior corporate and general management roles, author of ‘The After-hours Stylist’ Kate Williams shifted her focus to the creative life she had long been nurturing on the flower farm she shares with husband Phil in Prebbleton.
Together, the duo have transformed their lifestyle block into a seasonal sanctuary: a curated landscape of ornamental gardens, a flourishing flower field, and a purposebuilt flower studio. With a passion for styling, growing, photographing, and painting, Kate’s rural Canterbury life is the perfect canvas to foster her creativity. The founder of The After-hours Stylist, Kate weaves her love of nature, seasonal beauty, and creative expression through immersive floral workshops, creative escapes, and community events.
Since writing her last book, The After-hours Stylist (an introduction for Kate’s philosophy of seasonal living and everyday creativity) she found herself reaching for the things that provide balance: simple, grounding acts of creating and sharing. Beauty is everywhere – Kate knows that – in the beautiful blooms she grows to the feeling of slowing down. Her new book, Floral Abundance, continues that journey, diving deeper into the flower field and a life shaped by creativity, connection and beauty.
Kate also found their picking field brought unexpected happiness, visitors wandering the rows, slowing down, and telling her they breathed a little deeper. Many called it ‘soulfilling.’ This book grew from that space. “Floral Abundance is the most personal creative project I have undertaken. I photographed, styled and wrote it over months spent in the flower field, garden and studio, capturing beauty as it happened,” she says.
Floral Abundance follows the seasons, from vintage roses to hydrangeas; wildflowers to foxgloves, with complementing nutritious and aromatic recipes like Lavendar Lemon Cake and Beetroot Feta Whip. It’s a beautifully curated reminder that the focus isn’t on perfection, but on presence, and the simple joy of making things beautiful in your own way.
