Local Businesses
The Power of Flowers
A flower shop in the neighborhood is more than just another business, especially when it helps beautify a street. The currency florists deal in is joy, happiness, romance, celebration, and beauty, the undisputed beauty of flowers.
Floranza Flowers opened six months ago in a hole in the middle of nowhere, well, a figure of speech. It was a small unused spot next to a garage in NE 2nd Street where homeless men hanged-out drinking. Diana Uribe launched her entrepreneurial career there, making flowers her ticket to the American Dream.
Born in Cali, Colombia, the trained psychologist opted to migrate to Miami once she obtained her legal papers, and navigated to the world of flowers almost by default. To revalidate her degree would have taken a long time, time she didn’t have being a single mother. Friends connected her to a Colombian flower distributor, and she started selling to Latin supermarkets, and through Instagram she sold her own arrangements.
She had been a downtown resident for five years when she decided to transform the street’s eyesore into the neighborhood flower shop.
Downtown News: How did you deal with the homeless?
Diana Uribe: It was a challenge. They were used to throwing bottles, beer cans, food remains into what they considered their garbage dump. I think city officials should do a bit more to clean up the area; but it takes all of us to improve things, and my skills as a psychologist came in handy. In Colombia I worked with young offenders, getting them alternatives to jail, and people who were displaced by the guerillas. So, here I was able to deal with a situation that threatened my business. I explained to these homeless men the idea I had in mind, the idea of beautifying the street, and showed them respect… Some did listen, others not too much.
The Shop
I visited Floranza Flowers on a weekday. It’s like entering a family’s yard, cozy, small, and packed with plants and flowers, all kinds of roses. Scattered around are benches and small tables. Her school-age son occupied a table doing homework. “And a bit extra work,” Diana said proudly. “He is in an advanced program at Brickell’s South Side School.”
DN: Can you talk about your products?
DU: As I said, I get the flowers from Colombia and Ecuador. One of my distributors is located here in Miami, and the other in Bogota. It was mostly working selling flowers. I started working with plants when I opened this place, and my provider is a small company in Homestead, a Mexican lady. She gets me palms, succulents, cacti…
DN: What are the most recommended plants for apartments?
DU: Because of the air-conditioning, and not having access to the outdoors, palms last a long time. They should be placed by a window where they get light, and water them only once a week. The soil remains wet for the whole week. Also orchids, which need light but not to be exposed directly to the sun. Orchids need to be watered once a week as well. Succulents are popular because they are very pretty and don’t require much care. Succulents belong to the cacti family. Some clients like big plants. Hoja rota, “monstera.” For the outdoors, we have trinitaria (bougainvillea). The money tree is also popular. And the bonsai tree. I have a distributor, a Dominican lady, who buys them directly in Japan. Bonsai don’t need much care, as long as they get some light. They need water once a week when outdoors on a balcony or once a month indoors.
DN: Who are your clients?
DU: People in the neighborhood. We have various residential towers, a very diverse clientele. Arabs, Anglos, Russians, people from other European nations, Italians, Germans… Before I left Colombia, people would say Miami is all Cuban, you wouldn’t need to speak English. But Downtown Miami is a diverse community. Gay couples have been very supportive of my business, and women. These two segments of society need to surround themselves with beauty. Men, too, occasionally step in when they have an anniversary, or a birthday.
DN: Do you have training in floriculture?
DU: No, it’s all self-taught.
What’s next?
“I’d love to add a coffee island to this place. Work with small farmers in my country. Colombia is well-known for good coffee,” said Diane Uribe optimistically. “When that happens depends on inspections, and permits. But for now, my job is simply to propagate the joy and happiness that flowers bring, and make a living in the process. It’s not easy, but nothing worthwhile is.”
I said goodbye. The son, a fourth-grader, stood up and shook my hand firmly, and looking straight into my eyes said: “A pleasure meeting you, Don Raul. Have a nice afternoon!”
If you liked what you read, please share it. To receive Downtown News updates, register by clicking here.
