Our Story

our story

about Sarah

Sarah is an inspirational and passionate teacher, and has been running cooking, flower arranging, growing and gardening courses at Perch Hill, her farm in East Sussex, and around the country, since 1999.


Sarah has written for The Saturday Telegraph, Country Living, Gardens Illustrated, Gardeners’ World Magazine, The English Garden and Sainsbury's Magazine among others. Her gardening and cookery books have won her a number of awards including Best Specialist Gardening Book for The Cutting Garden and Cookery Book of the Year for Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook.


Sarah's other titles include Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst – The Creation of a Garden, bringing Vita's garden writing up to date, Food for Friends and Family, with over 450 delicious recipes, and Complete Christmas, packed with decorating ideas and recipes for the festive season. Sarah has recently published a new book exploring healthy eating, which combines her medical training (Sarah is a qualified GP) with her love for growing and cooking food – GOOD GOOD FOOD .


Sarah has presented on BBC Gardeners’ World and, in January 2014, presented an episode in the Great British Garden Revival series. Sarah also had a well-received TV series (BBC2) in Spring 2012 called Bees, Butterflies and Blooms, following Sarah's attempts to flower up the nation to hugely increase insect habitat and food supply. In 2016, Sarah appeared in BBC2’s Big Dreams, Small Spaces where she shared her love and enthusiasm for cut flowers. 


Sarah is married to the writer Adam Nicolson and has two daughters and three stepsons.


about our company and products

The Sarah Raven brand was first established in 1999 with a seed list. We now provide a comprehensive range of seeds, seedlings, plants, and gardening and floristry kit. We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and Sarah trials most of what we sell in her garden at Perch Hill.


Tried and tested

Every single thing we sell goes through a tough selection process and is trialled, tested and loved by Sarah at her Perch Hill Farm – her garden in Sussex where she lives – so you know you'll only ever get the best quality items for your kitchen and garden. All our seeds, bulbs and plants have to not only look or taste fantastic, but also be highly productive. All our collections and mixes have been inspired by Sarah's designs for her own garden and flower arrangements. Browse our collections and exclusive ranges.


All our garden and kitchen kit must be useful and well crafted, and only those items that have stood the test of time will make it into our range so you can enjoy them for years to come.


The very best 

We work closely with our growers to ensure you get the very best – our plants are grown especially for us by a select group of specialist nurseries, and we only sell top size tubers and bulbs. Our exclusive seedlings are grown for us by our nursery in Lincolnshire, using rainwater to water the plants, in glasshouses heated with a biomass boiler, which uses straw and waste cardboard as fuel. See more details about plant and bulb sizes 


Helping you to find the perfect plant

We really hold your hand every step of the way, from choosing your plants to helping you plant and care for them. You can find what's best suited for your garden, as we give detailed growing information for all our seeds, seedlings and plants, including hardiness, ideal site and soil types, flowering time and the best time to plant them. We highlight which plants are Perfect for Pollinators, so you can join Sarah in helping our nation's bees and butterflies. We also pick out which plants are easy to grow and therefore best for beginners.


Planting guides can be found on our website at www.sarahraven.com/booklets. These are written by Sarah and tell you everything you need to know to grow and care for your plants. For even more inspiration from Sarah, our advice pages include tips and tricks, recipes, flower arranging and decorating ideas, and video tutorials. With Sarah's expert knowledge, you'll be able to get the most from everything you grow.