S P OT L I G H T
‘It Will Burst into Bloom’
Poppies Flower Shop blossoms with boutique flowers By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
N
atalie Gilliland has always loved flowers because of their beauty and the creative ways in which she can arrange them. After she and her husband, Michael, retired from their commercial landscaping business, the goal was to open a flower shop. Gilliland couldn’t wait. In October 2019, she opened Poppies Flower Shop in Tempe. Nearly a year later, on September 1, Gilliland is moving it to Norterra to be closer to her Anthem home. “I had always wanted a retail store,” she says. “I have always loved flowers and plants. I’ve played with flowers for as long as I can remember. It’s a creative outlet for me. “I’ve wanted a boutique flower shop, something that wasn’t a traditional type of flower shop. You can pick up a dozen red roses, fi ll out a card and leave. But I wanted something more boutique, like in a very small town in
Traditional flowers like daisies, roses and carnations will be aplenty, but Poppies Flower Shop will specialize in novelty flowers like sweet peas, peonies, blushing bride protea, ranunculus and irises.
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Europe. You walk in. There are a lot of loose stems, not a lot of premade stuff. Customers can pick and choose what they want.” Traditional flowers like daisies, roses and carnations will be aplenty, but Gilliland will specialize in novelty flowers like sweet peas, peonies, blushing bride protea, ranunculus and irises. “You get the traditional roses with the baby’s breath,” she says. “I want to keep the usual stuff. I have gorgeous white snapdragons right now—the stuff you can’t pick up at the market. When you come into my store, I want you to have an experience.
Natalie Gilliland opened Poppies Flower Shop in Tempe last October. She and her shop will move to Norterra on September 1. (Photos by Pablo Robles)
“The girls and I are well versed in the different types of flowers and how long they’re going to last. Some flowers and plants are fussy, some like direct sunlight, some like partial sunlight. We’ll show you how to care for them and when the change out the water.”
