Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Titus.
Hi Caroline, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
The story of my flower farm-florist business really began during COVID, when I decided to DIY the flowers for my husband’s and my wedding. I fell in love with every part of the process, the design, the research, the planning, testing designs, and figuring out how all of the pieces come together.
Not long after, I visited an open farm tour at The Gardeners Workshop here in Newport News, VA and became fascinated with the idea of actually growing the flowers myself. Those two experiences planted the seed for my desire to start a flower farming & floristry business.
After having my first baby in 2023, I finally decided to take the leap and leave my career as a mechanical engineer to both raise my baby and build the business. Since then, I’ve been growing the farm slowly while also growing our family. We now have two sweet baby boys, and my toddler loves helping me water and grow the flowers. I’ve been relying on trainings and mentoring from other professionals in the industry (Ellen Frost of Local Color Flowers, The Gardeners Workshop, and Torrie Anderson of The Flower Farm at Young’s Mill) to help me get to where I am today.
Ironically, the deeper I get into floral design, the more I see how much of my engineering background still is relevant. From building structures to thinking about mechanics of a design, and even in farming from installing irrigation systems, bending EMT conduit for row cover hoops, there is much more overlap with mechanical engineering than I realized.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been (and still are!) quite a few obstacles and challenges for my business. The biggest one, raising a family while simultaneously learning the ins and outs of being a business owner! My entire journey building The Petal Patisserie has been while I’ve been pregnant, postpartum, extremely sleep deprived, and trying to be a stay at home mom for both kids. There is no such thing as a typical work week for me. I listen to trainings during nap times, fit in design work and bouquet building after everyone is asleep, harvest flowers on weekends or early mornings before my husband starts work, sometimes I’ll strap on a baby carrier and get a little outdoor work done with one of the kids.
My schedule has to be very fluid, changing with whatever stage of life my kids are in, and that’s certainly been a major challenge in operating a business. I manage a 1/8 acre farm on only a couple of free hours per week, and I’ve automated so much to try to get over that last challenge.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Petal Patisserie ?
The Petal Patisserie is a Flower Farm and Florist business. We grow the flowers ourselves on a 1/8 acre space in Newport News VA. I started my business in April of 2024 and am in my third year of growing and design. I primarily utilize flowers grown on our farm for designs, farmers market bouquets, and event work, occasionally utilizing flowers from other local farms near me when I have a gap in what is in bloom. My business prioritizes foam-free arrangements with locally grown flowers, and my farm prioritizes eco-friendly practices such as limiting our use of pesticides and opting for alternatives like beneficial insects, physical barriers like insect netting or just eliminating “problem crops” that attract too many pests.
I currently primarily do farmers markets and pop-ups as our main sales outlet, but we are switching gears into event work (weddings and funerals in particular) and wholesale for other florists and are beginning to slowly update our crop plan for these two new sales outlets.
What sets us apart from other flower farms is our eye for design and the ability to create really beautifully designed arrangements that don’t read as typical “farm” flowers. We crop plan colours and varieties with final designs in mind. We are certainly also different from other florists because of the types of flowers we use in our arrangements. You won’t see roses, baby’s breath, and carnations in our designs. Instead you’ll see seasonal flowers like dahlias, lisianthus, and celosia.
I’d love for readers to know that if they’re looking for non-traditional floral arrangements for their wedding day, honoring a loved one, or just simply want unique and beautiful flowers that are beautiful and sustainably grown, we provide just that, and love to create unique pieces for each customer.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was definitely an introvert, very studious, independent and a hard worker. I was naturally more inclined towards math & engineering (and come from a family of engineers), but I also loved art and being creative.
I had a very well rounded childhood – I played the flute, played sports including soccer and track, took art classes in high school and enjoyed painting, and I also have a huge love of baking. I’ve held part time jobs for the majority of my highschool & college years, whether it was working at summer camps, working as a captionist throughout all of college, and doing internships and coops, I was working constantly in addition to attending school.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thepetalpat.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepetalpatisserie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555668705529
- Other: https://pin.it/5cvyebf2Q
