The Crier spoke with Bella Gioeli, proprietor of Mountain Poppy Florals,
as she approaches her one year anniversary at the Collective. “June 15th
I opened. We are going to be having a special event for our one year
anniversary, I’m hoping to start an annual flower festival. This year
might be the start of it.” Gioeli says there will be “lots of flowers,
there will be different vendors come up, florists that I know from off
the hill.”

Bella says she has been providing flowers for three or four years. “It
naturally evolved from photographing weddings and people asking ‘Do you
have any recommendations of florists up here?’ I’ve always loved doing
this, I did my friends’ weddings, and I decided to give it a go one day
and loved it, kept going with it.”

At Mountain Poppy visitors can rely or Bella’s artistry or try their own
hand. “I wanted to create a different environment and experience for
people, they get to create their own arrangements at the “by-the-stem
bar” or I help them. Its a fun, interactive experience creating a very
personal bouquet. Or if they tell me the color palette that they want I
can put something together for them.”

The love of flowers runs in her family. “I have definitely been exposed
to flowers from my grandmother, Denise, and family weddings throughout
the years.” Denise was a local artist, who often painted watercolors of
flowers. “She always had her garden. She and I are very close, we’d
spend time in her garden, we’d paint the flowers and I would help her
plant them, pansies and stuff. We would bake cakes with the flowers in
the garden.”

“When I had my daughter, India, I wanted to open a store to give her the
same experience that I had growing up with my mom. She had her
businesses that my little sister and I were raised in.” It seems to be
working out well. “She likes being here, which I’m thankful for, and she
told me when she grows up she wants to be in her mom’s flower shop.”

India is learning the trade. “She’ll help me process the flowers and
sometimes will put together arrangements with me, she likes being part
of it all. We go down the hill once a week together to get all the
flowers for the that week. Sometimes she’ll pick out certain flowers for
the shop. She has good taste. There was a while there for about a year
she was trying to get rainbow roses. It kind of looked like a Grateful
Dead t-shirt!”

Those weekly trips sound exciting. “I go to Carlsbad and get beautiful,
quality flowers, a lot of them are imported, some are local. The place
that I go to is a whole district, its the best place, I’m like a kid in
a candy shop. Everything is just so beautiful and smells amazing. The
people are so lovely that I work with. I will be trying to work with
local farms to have flowers in the shop, and eventually I’d like to have
my own flower farm.”

Mountain Poppy has more than just flowers. Visitors will find cards and
stationery to write a little note or longer letter to go with the
flowers, and “lots of little gifts for yourself, for friends. There’s
jewelry, clothes, I will be expanding on the clothing soon. Mountain
Poppy will have it’s own merchandise rolling out later this year. I am
trying to feature local artists as much as possible, and partnering with
friends and other locals.”

Weddings are a mainstay for a florist, and Bella seems to have that
dialed in. “I am booked for weddings until October of next year, thank
you. We love doing weddings, we have several at Harvey House, others
sprinkled through town.” In addition to all the smaller events that her
flowers will be beautifying, she will also be “rolling out” a
subscription program, weekly or bi-weekly. She is partnering with other
businesses, “My flowers are at Village Market, within the next couple
weeks we’ll be having flowers at Raven Hill Bagels as well

Bella finds herself in good company at the collective, with neighbors
who are also friends: Kristi Wright at Raven Hill Bagels, and Dyani
Brunner and Riley Colgate of Speakeasy Bookmarket. She and Kristi began
the hunt for a location where they could open a shop, and when other
options fell through “this happened.” This summer there are plans for
music and other events both in the shop and on the outdoor stage.

“I’m definitely a non-traditional florist, I have my own style, the
people who connect with it are so appreciative. I had this bride tell me
that since she was twelve she has been planning her dream wedding, and
when she saw my floristry it was her dream florist. That made me feel so
good. I know I have a very different way of doing things than most
people, but the ones who see that and appreciate it are very connected
to that experience and the environment. I’ve tried very hard to make
this an ‘all are welcome’ place. You walk into the space and feel
nothing but love and smell beautiful flowers, see beauty, experience
beauty, on and on. I love being surrounded by flowers and meeting people
every day.”

Mountain Poppy Floral, in the Collective, 54440 North Circle. Summer
hours are a work in progress, but may be 10-5, Thurs-Mon.