Botanical Day Retreat
Botanical Day Retreat
With Babs @Botanicalinks & Bex @Botanicaltales
Autumn is, quite simply, a magical time of the year.
As the headiness of summer fades away a calmness spreads through the land,
as the plants and earth sign a deep sigh of relief that another cycle is near completion.
Our botanically focused day retreat has been crafted around this beautiful point in the calendar intentionally,
to allow us a moment to pause and savour the bounty and beauty of summer.
A time to come together and share in thanks for all that the season has gifted us and craft and weave flowers of the summer with our hands and hearts.
JOIN US SATURDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER, 2025
10-4pm (Optional sauna until 6pm)
@SouthcombeBarn
Widecombe In The Moor, Devon, TQ13 7TU, England, UK
Earlybird Price: £160 (Before April 1st)
Standard Price: £185
Within the day you will have the chance to harvest flowers from the Apothecary garden to then naturally dye your own silk ribbons, weave together an abundant wreath as well nourish yourself with incredible local, seasonal food and all whilst in the beautiful surrounds of Southcombe Barn.
An experience dreamt up to feed and nurture your body and your mind, a day of creativity and community
- the perfect alchemy and the very best way to start the season.
We will finish the day with a closing circle and a wood fired sauna for those that feel called to.
All this plus plenty of space and time to simply be.
Southcombe Barn is an incredible space to spend time
and we have purposefully allowed room throughout the day to simply be and experience all its beauty.
Your Hosts
Your guides for the day, Babs and Bex, have curated a soulful experience
centred around plants and all their incredible power.
Bex Partridge is a nature loving, floral artist and founder of Botanical Tales.
“I’ve been creating and playing with dried flowers for over seven years but my love for all things that grow has been a constant thread throughout my life. I was that girl that spent most of her twenties at home growing sweetpeas whilst her mates were living it up in London (I did a little bit of that too!). Now I run a business that allows me to combine all the things I love: gardening, teaching, creating and spending untold amounts of time in the garden.
I moved my family to Devon right in the middle of the pandemic. Some gut force was pulling me to this part of the world and I love it more and more each day. The close proximity to the sea, nestled in the woods with a soothing quiet has got me captivated.”
Babs Behan is the Natural Dyer/ Artist/ Author/ Educator and Founder of Botanical Inks Natural Dye House.
With two titles published by Quadrille Books, TedX Speaker (2021), Featured in Vogue Magazine and with clients including the Saatchi Gallery, Somerset House, Tate St Ives, Hauser and Wirth, Facebook London, Jo Malone, Soho House, Ace Hotel and many more.
Babs creates naturally dyed goods adhering to a purest "soil-to-soil" ethos, focused on local provenance and biodegradability.
As an intuitive herbalist her work is progressively bringing contemporary Ayurvastra (herbal dyeing) back into Western culture.
The Experience
Starting at 10am, for a full day of immersion, finishing at 4pm
(until 6 or later for those wishing to join us in a community sauna)
- Rose Tea Ritual
- Botanical Dyeing Silk Ribbons with Babs
- Seasonal Wreath-Making with Bex
- Nourishing Vegetarian/ Vegan lunch
- Enriching Drinks and Snacks
A Brief Outline Of Your Morning With Us
We open the day with a guided Rose tea ritual, to land together in this beautiful place.
You will have the opportunity to pick flowers from the Apothecary Garden to use for bundle dyeing.
Babs will introduce you to the art of bundle dyeing with flowers to make beautiful silk ribbons (for adorning your floral wreath later).
Bundle dyeing is a contemporary natural dye practice, which allows for the direct transfer of botanical dyes from flowers and herbs onto cloth.
The results are the most mesmerising unique floral patterns.
A Brief Outline Of Your Afternoon With Us
Following a nourishing lunch we will come together to work with all the beautiful flowers from the summer.
Grown and dried by Bex in her Devon garden and allotment, you will be working with dried flowers, seedheads, foliages and more to weave together your own seasonal wreath, encapsulating the year in an everlasting circle. The botanical dyed ribbons from the morning session will make the most perfect adornment from which to hang your wreath or to simply add to its beauty.
We will close the experience with a closing circle, sharing our experiences and feelings from the day whilst coming together as one.
Where You Will Be Joining Us
Southcombe Barn is a place for minds, bodies and souls to rejuvenate, flourish and land through creative arts, wellbeing and connection to landscape.
There are two sleeping spaces at Southcombe Barn – a converted Piggery and a Hay Barn. Both sleep two and guests can enjoy the Wild Spa, including a natural swimming pond, wood-fired sauna and outdoor spring-fed baths, and the wildflower meadows and wilderness that surrounds. Why not make a weekend of it and book yourself in for the full experience?
Southcombe Barn comprises 16 acres of wildflower meadows, woodland and moorland pasture. The land backs onto the open moor and is a haven of wildlife, birds, bees and butterflies. Set within the Dark Skies reserve, nights can be spent gazing up at star-filled skies and sunsets and sunrises enjoyed from nearby tors. The Dartmoor National Park has incredible walks and wild swimming spots.
Cancellation Policy
Payment in full is required to secure your spot. If for reasons out of your control you are unable to attend our retreat and notify us 28 days before the date we can offer a 50% refund. After 28 days, there will be no refund.