Between Two Thorns is every instagrammers haven! The cosy workshop is tucked away in Brighton's Upper North Street, and provides the perfect combo of houseplants & coffee. The space also hosts regular creative workshops - with everything from terrarium making, to Lino cutting to arm-knitting! And of course, they stock a selection of our colourful greetings cards.
We caught up with owner and founder Alys Dobbie to talk about how the workshop got started, and her ambitions for the future.
In a sentence, how would you describe Between Two Thorns?
A hub for plant buying, workshop learning, coffee drinking and greenery-marvelling.
Tell us a little about your background and how the shop started.
I retrained to be a florist after being an antique dealer for 14 years, and needed a workshop for all the events I do throughout the year (weddings, styled shoots etc). The shop came up and I fell in love with its quirkiness - my workshop is a non-scary dungeon. Plants came about as I didn't want to get into the cut flower game and am like everyone else at the moment - obsessed.
When did you decide to start working with local creatives on your workshops?
I just really wanted to create more than just a plant shop. I joke that there are 4 businesses in 1 - but there really are! I love how people can use the space and a lot of my workshops are plant related too. There are usually at least 6 workshops on every month, but I have room for more if there are any other creatives out there?!
What is the first thing I would notice when I walk into Between Two Thorns? Plants. You can barely see me hidden behind them all. I usually have around 300-400 plants in stock and the space is only 3m square.... it truly is an urban jungle.
Do you find that Brightonians crave plants and coffee?
Is the Pope Catholic? Most Brightonians I know don't have gardens and want to bring the outdoors in...and they want to do that whilst glugging on a oat milk flat white (most popular drink ordered - fact).
What’s next for the Between Two Thorns?
More workshops, more events, more unusual plants and I'm going to throw a baby into the mix too as I'm due on September 15th.
You can visit Between Two Thorns yourself at 67 Upper North Street, Brighton (BN1 3FL) or check them out on Instagram and Facebook. (Photography: Colourbloc Photography).
We caught up with owner and founder Alys Dobbie to talk about how the workshop got started, and her ambitions for the future.
In a sentence, how would you describe Between Two Thorns?
A hub for plant buying, workshop learning, coffee drinking and greenery-marvelling.
Tell us a little about your background and how the shop started.
I retrained to be a florist after being an antique dealer for 14 years, and needed a workshop for all the events I do throughout the year (weddings, styled shoots etc). The shop came up and I fell in love with its quirkiness - my workshop is a non-scary dungeon. Plants came about as I didn't want to get into the cut flower game and am like everyone else at the moment - obsessed.
When did you decide to start working with local creatives on your workshops?
I just really wanted to create more than just a plant shop. I joke that there are 4 businesses in 1 - but there really are! I love how people can use the space and a lot of my workshops are plant related too. There are usually at least 6 workshops on every month, but I have room for more if there are any other creatives out there?!
What is the first thing I would notice when I walk into Between Two Thorns? Plants. You can barely see me hidden behind them all. I usually have around 300-400 plants in stock and the space is only 3m square.... it truly is an urban jungle.
Do you find that Brightonians crave plants and coffee?
Is the Pope Catholic? Most Brightonians I know don't have gardens and want to bring the outdoors in...and they want to do that whilst glugging on a oat milk flat white (most popular drink ordered - fact).
What’s next for the Between Two Thorns?
More workshops, more events, more unusual plants and I'm going to throw a baby into the mix too as I'm due on September 15th.
You can visit Between Two Thorns yourself at 67 Upper North Street, Brighton (BN1 3FL) or check them out on Instagram and Facebook. (Photography: Colourbloc Photography).
