Best friends

flowers in the garden of life

Our children’s friends leave an imprint on our souls that lasts a lifetime. We grow to love them every bit as much as our kids do. 

Amy and Natalie left to right

Amy met Natalie in preschool. They became fast friends, so much so that Natalie’s family moved onto our block. That’s a long story, worthy of a post in and of itself.

This post though is about little Natalie, who is now the owner and founder of Native Poppy, the most kick-ass flower shop in California, its home in San Diego. Native Poppy has two locations and rocks the industry. You need only follow her Instagram account to see her incredible talent oozing into every corner of your screen.

It has been a joy to watch her story bloom, no pun intended. 

When she asked me if I would be interested in taking her flower arranging e-course and blogging about it, I was excited and honored to be asked. OF COURSE I wanted to do that. Are you kidding me?

I had a few roadblocks, that thing of Covid in our household, and once I was free to stop isolating, I didn’t have many days left to find flowers. Living in a small town in the foothills, it’s not as easy as one might think to find lovely fresh flowers or at least flowers I like. 

I had a small landscaping company for nearly 20 years, so I’m a bit picky. I began searching the stores in our area on the first day we were able to head out. 

No luck. Horrible. I so wished I had a Native Poppy in the area.

Yesterday, when I had almost exhausted all possible resources, Rick said,

Honey, why don’t you pick some flowers from the yard? 

What? You mean our yard? 

Yeah, our yard.

We’d been laying low for so long that I had lost sight of what was still blooming in our midst. I ventured out to the back and realized that in our absence, Mother Nature had stepped in to take great care in our absence. I had a great time clipping, which will be the beginning of my fall maintenance.

I found some goodies.

And then, I sat down to take the e-course. I will admit that even if I hated the course, I’d tell you I loved it. Right? Can you blame me?

But there’s no need to rescue little Natalie. She’s claimed a place for herself as a true artist and a remarkable business woman, and she doesn’t need my gratuity. She’s a force to be reckoned with.

As I mentioned, I worked in the landscaping field for years, and this course taught me things I did not know about arranging flowers. I created this arrangement from the end of fall blooms; wow! Who knew?

In the future, I will actually consider cutting my blossoms. I typically can’t see my way to cut the blooms until it’s a matter of deadheading the plant. I’ll have a new incentive going forward.

All I will have to figure out is the cats.

Don’t let them fool you. They love to get into mischief.

Thanks, Natalie, for taking that leap of faith, sharing your creative spirit, and working as hard as you do. I am very proud of you.

Oh, and if it’s not already evident, I recommend the course. What you spend on this course, you will save many times over creating your own bouquets, whether for gifts or your own enjoyment. I’d have to take that flower crown-making course if I was a little younger. Or maybe, I need to take it for those little people I hope will grace my life in the years to come.

Your devoted fan,

Sue

You can find Native Poppy’s newsletter about this class here or their website here.