Grower Direct

How a farm kid became Red Deer's flower expert
I grew up on a farm west of here, where my Italian grandparents arrived in 1924 and built gardens the size of football fields. Not flower gardens but food gardens. But when you're weeding two football fields of vegetables as punishment when your brothers get in trouble, you learn about plants.
At 17, I went to Olds College for floriculture. Graduated at 18 and started with Centaure de Flores! They had four shops in Red Deer back then, plus shops in Olds, Innisfail, and Lacombe. They grew their own flowers in huge greenhouses. After a couple years in Red Deer, I became manager in Lacombe.
Then life happened. We had two daughters. Ended up running my brother's Boston Pizza here in Red Deer as general manager for almost 20 years. But flowers never left me. I kept doing arrangements on the side, keeping my fingers in it.
About 20 years ago, a flower shop came up for sale. The previous owner had joined Grower Direct, so we kept that going. You pay franchise fees, but they don't tell you what to do. What they do is make sure orders come to local shops first, and more importantly, they connect you straight to the growers.
A day in the life (and why it matters)
Want to know what I actually do? I get here before 9 am, flip on the lights, and literally say hello to the plants. Not quietly, either. "Hello, my beautiful plants, you guys all look so pretty."
Tuesday's when the big flower shipment comes. While checking orders and calling customers about delivery windows, I'm prepping buckets with flower food. When flowers arrive, every single stem gets cleaned, fresh cut, and goes into treated water to hydrate for hours before we'll even use them.
Between that, I'm handling UPS packages (we've been an access point for 15 years), taking orders, helping walk-ins, and making arrangements. At any given time, our cooler has 28 to 40 fresh arrangements I've made. People can pick from those, ask for tweaks, or have me create their vision.
The day often runs past 6 p.m. closing. If I'm alone, I might not get home until 8 or 8:30. But here's the thing, it's not a job when you love what you're doing!
The people who make it work
My daughter does our marketing while getting her masters degree. She's the one who wrote that sign about singing to your flowers that people keep photographing. One of our team members has been with us for 17 years.
My husband, who just turned 71, grows our home garden and another one out east of town that's bigger than a football field! During Valentine's and Mother's Day, semi-retired friends who know flowers come to help. But the designing? That's me, six days a week.
Why our flowers actually last
I tell every customer how to care for their flowers. Give them a fresh cut, quarter inch. When water turns gray, that's bacteria. Dump it and give it fresh water, use the flower food packet we give you!
One guy came back amazed! His wife got three and a half weeks from our roses. Another customer told me grocery store flowers didn't last but ours gave him two and a half weeks. That's what happens when flowers come direct from growers instead of sitting in warehouses.
I guarantee roses for seven days. Most shops won't do that. But when you know your flowers, when you process them right, when you've been doing this since you were 17, you can make that promise!
Still here, still growing
At 66, after almost 50 years in flowers, people ask why I don't retire. But when customers tell you they're coming back because you taught them about watering their plants, when guys photograph your daughter's sign about singing to flowers, when someone wants to bring coffee just to sit and smell your shop, why would you stop?
We're Red Deer Grower Direct. One location on Gates Avenue, open Monday through Friday 9 to 6, Saturdays 10 to 4. Real flowers from someone who really knows them.