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Wellsville woman has flower power By
Heather Fredrickson
Rose hip is one of the worst kinds of materials to use when making dried floral wreaths because of the "millions of teeny thorns," said a Wellsville wreath-maker. Cindy Palmer, co-owner of The Craft Farm at 230 E. Main St. with husband Bryan, said rose hip and sea lavender, a baby's breath look-alike, are some of the worst materials she uses. "It's not a bunch," Cindy said of the lavender. "Each stem is its own and it takes a long time to get them stuck in there." Wreaths and dried-flower baskets are on display on the Palmers' front porch, along with 3-foot high topiary trees and foot-long pine cones. Cindy said she and Bryan take a trip out to California where they pick up the pine cones off the ground. "My parents live out there," she said. The topiary trees, one with reddish-pink roses and another with yellow, are her most expensive items selling for $30 a piece. "It takes the longest to make - about an hour," she said. Profit margins range from $5 to $10, depending on the size of the item sold, Cindy said. The larger the wreath or basket, she said, the bigger the profit. Custom color wreaths are also available, though Cindy said some people have come in asking for colors of flowers that don't exist. She said she's never dyed any of her flowers to fit a customer's need - she said she prefers the "natural look." "(Customers) have asked me to come to their house to tell them what would look best" in a particular space, but Cindy stressed she is not an interior decorator. "My tastes are very Victorian, so I'm very biased," she said. "If they want modern, I'm not into it." Cindy said she and Bryan rent the vacant lot across the street from their home to grow flowers during the summer. When the flowers are in their prime, Cindy sets to work putting together the wreaths, then letting the flowers dry. "They're much more pliable when they're fresh," she said. One problem Cindy has experienced letting the flowers dry on the wreaths is that they can mildew if caught in the rain. Bryan has asked the Wellsville City Council for a building permit so they can add a shop to the side of their house where they can store the wreaths, but so far the City Council has denied their requests. "They say this is a residential area," Cindy said, "but this is Main Street. There are a lot of businesses here." Cindy said the business has been open for seven years, and was all Bryan's idea. She said she was not a crafty person and hid most of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Relief Society projects she made. Bryan used to work for his great uncle's business, Palmer wholesale, making silk trees and enlisted Cindy's help. Now he works full time as a trainer in the National Guard at the armory in Logan near Willow Park Zoo, she said. "You never know what you can do until you have to," Cindy said. The couple also sells fresh flowers in the summer and orders long or short stemmed roses from Ecuador, but the bulk of their business is wreaths, especially around Christmas time. "Winter's the best," Cindy said. And Cindy's favorite material to use when making wreaths? "Curly willow," she said. "It bends easy. You can't screw it up. It can look wild and crazy and people love it."
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