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How it all began...

I have always loved flowers and gardening. I think I get that from my mom. She always had a beautiful garden at our home in Webster Groves, Missouri. It was filled with beautiful hosta plants, impatients, flowering plants and flowering trees. Our yard was always the prettiest on the block! My mom's garden was just as beautiful as she is.

my love for flowers grew...

So, as an adult, I always wanted a pretty garden, only I wanted mine to be filled with beautiful flowers that I could cut and bring into the house. There is nothing I love more than fresh beautiful flowers-especially the kind that have a beautiful fragrance! (Like roses and lilacs!) My favorite flower is a peony...I love the beautiful big blooms and the fragrant smell. Peonies, hydrangeas and lilacs...oh my... So, at each house, I have always planted a cutting garden.

Last summer, as I was cutting the flowers and bringing them in I had a realization....I realized that flowers are my true passion. They are what makes me happy. They are the gift I have that I want to share with others. But I didn't really know the 1st thing about operating a floral business....and how would I make it unique?

2 Life Changing Things Happened!

I am a big lover (aka time waster) of Instagram, and I follow a lot of people and companies that feature beautiful flowers on their pages. One of the pages I follow is @Floretflower. It is owned by Erin Benzakein. She has a beautiful farm in Skagit Valley, Washington. She started her farm on 1 acre of land....and produces enough flowers to sell to wholesalers and the local farmers markets. She also does weddings and workshops and writes books...she's one of those "I can do anything and do it well kind of people" even if she doesn't do it well it always appears that she does! She openly admits that it took a lot of trial and error to get where she is today and that we can all learn from her mistakes. The pages of her Instagram and her books are filled with beautiful cut flowers....huge blooms of tulips, dahlias, roses, zinnias and more....just about any cut flower you can imagine. I started to follow Erin and discovered she offers a 12 week all inclusive course on how to start a flower farm. It wasn't cheap, but it included everything you need to know on how to become a flower farmer. So, with the support of my husband Bill, who grew up on a farm, I decided that if I wanted to become a flower farmer, the best way was to jump in and learn everything I could!

life changing: part 2

The 2nd thing that happened, happened while I was taking the Floret Flower Farm course. The course asks you a lot of questions about what you want to do with your flower business once you get started. Do you want to sell to wholesalers? Do you want to do weddings? Do you want to share your flowers with friends and family? How will you be unique? It really got me thinking.....I have always loved the idea of a flower stand....like the ones you see in New York City or on the streets of Italy. But I really didn't want the overhead of a shop. I have also always loved the vintage Ford pickup trucks that are photographed at Christmas time with the Christmas trees in the back. Erin's book features a beautiful picture of the bed of a truck filled with beautiful blooms....... I thought to myself...that's it! I can sell my flowers from the back of a truck....a mobile flower business! I immediately started looking on EBAY for the perfect truck....I searched all kinds of trucks, from old Ford trucks, to Chevy's and even an old Econoline. But then I saw Betty!!!!.....and she was BEAUTIFUL! I found her in California and immediately started communicating with the seller. We purchased Betty within the week! She was shipped to our house in January of this year.

all about betty!

Betty is a Volkswagen Transporter..converted to a mobile flower truck. In the old days these types of trucks were used to sell vegetables and flowers from the bed of the truck. She is 100% my style! I grew up with Volkswagens! (my mom had a beetle when I was younger, then we had a Vanagon and I had a beetle convertible a few years ago). She's the best little truck and the heart of our business!

We had a lot to do to convert the truck....It needed the shelves to hold the flowers, (plus the flower buckets), it needed the hoops and a cover. So I researched where we needed to purchase all of those things. My awesome husband, Bill built the shelves and designed the inside where we hold the flowers and wrap the bouquets. (He is my biggest supporter and is very involved in the business too!) We also had some things we wanted to add to the truck like a back up camera! So we had a lighter installed for power. The truck is a 1961 Transporter.....it's so old it doesn't have a gas gauge! So, we have to keep track of how much gas we use.

Then the craziness began...a shop space opened up in downtown Parkville! Next thing you know, we are a full service floral and gift shop! Life throws some crazy curves...but you might as well enjoy the ride. Our goal as a business is to bring the most beautiful fresh cut flowers to your door....and to spread a little sunshine along the way! It seems to be working.....we are delighted with the response we have received and hope to be your Go-to-Florist-and Gift Shop in the Northland!