I’ve always preferred long-lasting houseplants over cut flowers for my home decor. Not because of the ephemeral nature of cut flowers, because even dried and spent flowers can look poetic.
I’ve avoided buying cut flowers because of the unsustainable nature of the flower industry. Not many people know that most of the flowers that you buy in supermarkets and florist shops in the United States and Europe are grown in South Africa or various countries in South America (with Ecuador and Colombia at the top of the list).
The flowers are then shipped in refrigerated cargo planes to the Netherlands where they’re sold at an auction. After that, the flowers are distributed (in refrigerated trucks and planes, again) all over the US and Europe. And because flowers are a non-edible crop, the growing regulations are lax when it comes to the use of pesticides and herbicides.
But what if you want to buy a nice bouquet of cut flowers for your mom? Or you’re creating a wedding arrangement? Or you just want some floral beauty to brighten up your day a bit?
The solution is simple: buy seasonal flowers grown locally by a small farm.
However, sticking to these three key principles – seasonal, local, small farm – is not easy. That’s because local farmers don’t have the distribution networks needed to make this a sustainable business model.
Enter Talia Boone, the founder of Postal Petals – a platform that connects small growers with people who want to buy local flower boxes. Talia answered a few of my questions about how she came up with the idea for Postal Petals and the advice she would give to new entrepreneurs.
Here’s Talia’s story:
Hi, Talia. Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your business?
I am the CEO and Founder of Postal Petals. I was first introduced to arranging flowers a few years ago. It all began with my desire to have fresh flowers in my own home and being curious about what kind of arrangements I could create on my own.
Almost immediately, I fell in love with the art of flower arranging. It was so calming and relaxing that I started to look forward to the hour or two that I would get to arrange flowers and just decompress and quiet my mind. It became my go to form of self-care and a way to relieve stress.
In the spring of 2020, two months into quarantine, I was super stressed and desperately in need of a floral fix to ease my nerves as I was feeling like the walls in my home were beginning to close in on me.
I wanted to get fresh flowers, but the Los Angeles Flower Market was closed due to the lockdowns. After looking around online for other ways to get my hands on some flowers, I came across a flower wholesaler who shipped flowers to large clients such as florists and event planners. I just cold-called him hoping to convince him to reduce his minimums and ship me a small order of flowers that I could arrange at home.
Through that conversation, I learned about the obstacles that prevented him from accommodating my request; but by the end of our two-hour call, my mind was spinning.
I realized that what I wanted didn’t exist, but that could be an opportunity for me to possibly fill a gap in the marketplace. I immediately went to work putting together a wireframe for what the business could look like. That was in May 2020. By late July, we launched in beta with nearly 20 domestic farm partners signed up to ship for us. Today, we’re shipping flowers all across the country.
How do you start collaborating with local growers?
Sometimes we’ll reach out to them; or if they hear about us and want to work with us, they will get in contact with our team. From there, we discuss the specifics of the varieties and quantities they grow to see how their product fits into our overall supply chain.
What drew you to cut flowers as a creative medium?
I was drawn to flower arranging because I found it to be relaxing and therapeutic. Add that to the bonus of having a beautiful arrangement of flowers to enjoy once I finish the process. I only see an upside to DIY flower arranging.
How do you decide what flowers to source?
We focus first on flowers that are grown domestically and are naturally in season. From there, we select based on what we think our clients will enjoy, what flower varieties will look good together and which varieties fit within our price point.
What does a workday look like for you?
A typical workday for me starts with checking in on Slack for updates on orders that may have come in overnight and setting a list of any urgent priorities for the day. Next, I check my calendar for the day, then slot tasks in between meetings. I spend the next 8-10 hours in meetings and working through the day’s to-do list.
At the end of the day, I go over notes from the day, assess the work completed and prep for the next day.
What advice do you have for people who want to do what you do?
Building a brand is hard work and incredibly time consuming. The best advice I could give is to carve out time for yourself to reset and refresh. The last thing you want to do is burn out before you accomplish your goal.
Finally, we’re all about houseplants here. Do you have a favorite houseplant?
I have a Dracaena named “Audrey 3000”. It’s super easy to care for and will zhuzh up your space!
Thanks for joining us, Talia. You can check out Postal Petals for a current selection of flowers and definitely keep an eye out on their gorgeous Instagram page.
If you want to read more about houseplants and gardening, hop on my once-a-month newsletter list. There’s no endless email sequence here. Just a monthly email to keep in touch and chat about plants.
All images via Postal Petals
