Tullow’s Garden Haven Florist in full bloom for festive season

The Garden Haven Florist, in Tullow is in full bloom as Christmas approaches.

Located on The Square, the florist offers beautiful fresh flowers for all occasions.

Christmas wreaths and bouquets are doing a fantastic trade at the moment because the festive season has started earlier than in previous years, as owner Linda Smyth explains.

“I never sold Christmas wreaths in November, but this year there is no stopping it. There seems to be a great atmosphere around the town.”

The florist shop has been trading for 18 years and Linda’s background is arguably as colourful as her flowers. The Old Leighlin native must be one of few florists to have a diploma in pig management and she has previously worked in a piggery.

“I went for a total change!” laughed Linda.

Linda came from a family where there was great interest in plants and flowers, with her mother Marion a passionate gardener and a sister, also named Marion, who is a horticulturist.

The shop started off more as a gardening outlet selling pots and plants, but a demand for fresh flowers prompted a change of direction.

“I used to drive to Dublin three or four days a week to get the flowers fresh for work, so it went from there and took off.”

There has always been great local support for the business, but this year has been phenomenal. Flowers have been a very popular gift during Covid-19.

“For birthdays and other things, customers would say they can’t visit, so it would be nice to send a bouquet and there is nothing as nice as a bouquet.”

The Garden Haven regularly gets orders from abroad, from people in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Britain to be delivered locally. Some of the Garden Haven’s wonderful arrangements and gifts The florist shop is very active on TikTok and Facebook. TikTok has been a great marketing medium, with videos of wreath making going down a bomb.

Linda is ably assisted by Amanda Moran, who works part-time. Linda thanks her many customers and wishes all of them a very happy Christmas. Over the past 18 years, she has had some great chats in the shop and many friendships have been forged along the way.“ There is not a day I regret doing this. I get a great buzz out of it. Every day is different,” said Linda. The popular handmade wreaths and table arrangements, some which come with light arrangements, start at €20 to €25.The Garden Haven also provides wreaths for graves, which are always in demand at this time of year, and as many customers do not live in Ireland, the company also delivers them locally to the grave. The Garden Haven is open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday as it prepares for Christmas. For more information, log onto www.gardenhavenflorist.com or phone 059 9180949.