Local Flower Shop Shares Love for Flowers with Hanwell Community
HANWELL – Leah Symons, the owner of Fleur Hanwell, is providing the Hanwell community with local, fresh-cut flowers. Having a love for flowers and gardening, Symons is sharing her passion with those around her.
Symons says that Fleur Hanwell is a local “micro flower farm.” She started the business in 2021 by transforming her large yard into a flower garden.
“It all started in 2021,” Symons tells Huddle. “I kind of just added some cut flowers to my existing garden and I loved them.”
Symons began the business as a small roadside stand with a wagon but has since upgraded. With every year that goes by, Symons says that Fleur Hanwell just gets bigger.
“I think it just started small, like a small space in the garden, and I just loved it and it kept going and people were buying my flowers so I was like ‘hey, I can do this,’” says Symons.
Symons says she has always had a love for flowers and gardening. She grew up in a Dutch family and says that the love for tulips was real there. When she was younger, she use to plant tulips with her dad, which introduced her to the beauty of flowers.
However, she hadn’t started her own garden until after Covid-19 hit. Symons says that, just like a lot of people at the start of the pandemic, she wanted something to do at home. This led to her starting her own flower garden on her country property in Ontario, and then ultimately growing into what Fleur Hanwell is now after moving to New Brunswick.
“It’s our second year here [in New Brunswick],” says Symons. “Coming here and kind of having like a great space is where I kind of vamped it up.”
Symons says that she only sells her flowers in the spring, summer, and early fall. Since she does not have a greenhouse, she sells flowers in their season and as they grow.
Over the spring, she sold many tulips, along with some other varieties that she is working towards for upcoming years. Right now, she is working on growing her summer flowers which will be available from July until October. Along with this, she says that she will be trying her hand at creating some dry flower arrangements.
“So, I’ll be drying throughout the summer, and then hopefully into the fall, I’ll be able to sell some dried arrangements as well,” Symons says.
This summer, Symons says that she will be doing popups for Fleur Hanwell, usually posting on social media where she will be that day. Since the company does not have a storefront, she wants to get out and share her flowers with others around the community. She will also be at the Garrison Night Market in Fredericton over the course of the summer.
For those who are looking to get specific flowers, Symons says that she usually takes orders as direct messages on social media. She usually posts on Fleur Hanwell Facebook and Instagram pages what she has in season and says that she gets orders from that.
Symons says that although she does have plans to expand Fleur Hanwell to be able to do bouquets for small events, such as elopements, she wants to stay a small, local company. Sourcing everything that she grows from her own space, she wants to remain friendly to the environment as much as she can.
“[We are] not a florist, but more a flower farm and doing market bouquets and stuff like that,” says Symons.
For those located in Hanwell, Fleur Hanwell is proud to be a small, local business, and provides the Hanwell community with free local delivery. With much to come over the summer months, Symons says that she is excited to get her flowers out in the community.
Ryley Roach is a Huddle student intern, based in Fredericton. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected]