We were lucky to catch up with Karly Aldrich recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Karly, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

In 2018, my husband and I purchased our first home. I knew I wanted a garden, and that is why we chose this house because of the large yard. He built me a large garden box, and I started out with planting just a few veggies and flowers to bring in pollinators. I planted flowers in with the vegetables as companion plants, to entice bees to come and pollinate my tomatoes and peppers, and to keep aphids away. Well I found myself cutting my companion plants and bringing them inside to put on my kitchen table. I was buying flowers from the store too, but the flowers from my garden were so much more vibrant and “alive” looking. I started researching how to grow more flowers, and it completely snowballed into tilling up half my backyard and front yard.
The first year of growing flowers for cutting was a very big learning curve. The bugs were absolutely terrible, but I knew I did not want to use pesticides. It has taken several years of building up a healthy ecosystem with lots of good bugs that eat the bad bugs. It was really hard dealing with the bugs eating things up, but as the years have gone by I see less and less bug issues. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have any bug issues at all, every year I find all sorts of weird insects I’d never seen before. You just never know what Mother Nature is going to throw at you. I used to get upset that something died or didn’t do well. Now I just rip it up and move on because that is just going to happen and there’s just no point in being upset about it. I have also invested quite a bit into perennials, compost, irrigation, and equipment.
I love doing the growing part, but the designing and making arrangements part is what I really love to do. I have always been artsy, but lacked an outlet for my creativity. Starting this farm/floristry business has really given me a way to use all of my creative talents.

Karly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Karly and I am the owner of Pleasant Valley Petals located in Pleasant Valley, Missouri. I am a farmer/florist, and I grow all of the flowers I use in my designs. I am not the classically trained florist, I have a very loose whimsical style. I am completely self taught and always learning. I love big, beautiful arrangements and bouquets. I love doing baby showers, grad parties, or whatever reason you need some flowers.
I am very proud of the following and customers I have gained over the last several years, because they know they are going to get something beautiful. I can’t guarantee any particular flower or colors, but my customers know that whatever they order, it will be beautiful.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Since starting my gardening journey, I have had to pivot quite a few times. Sometimes the weather destroys your crop, sometimes bugs destroy it, and sometimes it’s all totally my fault. There have been quite a few times that I have gotten lazy about something, like not netting things properly, and of course a storm or windy day comes and flattens everything to the ground. I have learned that if you want a successful, high quality crop, you have to do due diligence and make sure things are done properly. You cannot get lazy because if you do, Mother Nature will absolutely exploit that. If I do have a disastrous crop, then you just have to pull it up and move on. I don’t have time or space to worry about it.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I started out getting most of my business from Instagram and Facebook, but since moving to the farmers markets, I have been able to reach more people who are into what I am doing and offering. I like to be face to face with people and actually interact and speak to them, not just typing on a screen. I like to actually show people what I offer and they can see my style of floristry. If someone wants to order flowers for an event, I then direct them to my Instagram so they can see finished products to make sure we would be on the same page about the look and style. The markets are also really fun to meet people and get my name out into the community.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Pleasant Valley Petals
• Facebook: Pleasant Valley Petals
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Karly Aldrich