When I met Holly Henderson at her shop, Lavender Heart Botanicals, I wanted to know more about her. After writing a book about lavender, I was curious about how this herb had enchanted Holly.
Holly grew up on her family’s farm, The Henderson Holly Farm, in the 1960’s. My first question was, “Were you named for the farm?”
She tossed her long red hair back, and said, “I never knew for sure. My mother told me that back in Minnesota, a lost little girl knocked on the front door on a snowy winter day. Mom invited her to come in out of the cold while she called her parents. Her name was Holly. Mom decided then if she ever had a baby girl, she would name her Holly.”
Holly’s parents set up a production facility, enlisted a crew, and created a business making and selling wreaths, topiaries and garlands. They shipped their botanical masterpieces across the United States and to seven foreign countries. Holly and her five siblings worked on the farm cutting holly, making wreaths and packing them for shipping. This experience would eventually lead Holly to lavender, however the route would be indirect.
Holly couldn’t wait to escape and go off to college. She joined several bands, where she sang and played acoustical guitar.
When the music scene wasn’t paying the bills, Holly got a part-time job in a florist shop. With her blue eyes flashing, Holly said, “You won’t believe what my first customer ordered: a casket cover! I didn’t have a clue how to make one. My mother looked everything up, so that’s what I did, I looked it up in a catalog. I found fresh gladioli, carnations and lilies, foam and a form to hold them in place, and actually created one.”
As Holly told me similar stories of her resourcefulness, I began to wonder when lavender would enter the scene.
Several years later, Holly was living in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. A phone call from Jan, a grade school friend, brought her another opportunity. “Holly, I’ve been looking at wreaths in the catalogs of Williams-Sonoma, Smith & Hawken and others. I know we could do better. Let’s start a business making wreaths and garlands. You’d be great at design and I could do the marketing.”
Jan snagged a large order with I Magnin, an upscale department store in Seattle. They were looking for a ‘gift-for-purchase’ item. Jan showed them the Lavender Heart Sachet that Holly had designed: a heart-shaped sachet filled with lavender buds & decorated with pink roses made of satin ribbon. I Magnin ordered 1000!
Now, Holly had to figure out how to actually produce these sachets. “My dad offered the barn as a production space, his crew for assembly, and, suddenly, I was back to the place that I had wanted to escape from during my teens.”
Now, I began to see how wreath-making, lavender and Holly’s forceful personality were coming together to weave a path to her shop.
“Lavender was becoming popular in wreaths, topiaries and floral arrangements. I looked to France, Germany and Holland for new design ideas. When Eddie Bauer was opening stores, they engaged us to provide props; when Victoria’s Secret was doing a photo shoot and wanted lavender en masse, they turned to Lavender Heart Botanicals.”
As time went on, Jan decided to leave the partnership, and Holly’s five-year old son, Will, was ready to start school. Holly wanted to simplify her life and concentrate on parenting her son. “I found a retail location here in Madison Valley that met my criteria: a five- minute drive to Will’s school.”
“My shop offers unique products such as lavender water, wreaths, fine soaps, candles and unique gifts like this whimsical chicken purse,” Holly said. While I talked with Holly, several customers came into her shop. Two women walked in together. They oohed and awed over the chicken purse and eventually bought it. I asked them if they lived around here.
Music lured Holly away from wreath-making at her parent’s holly farm. Then lavender inspired Holly’s
creativity for botanical design, and under the spell of lavender, she returned to the holly farm. When Holly’s son Will came along, opened Lavender Heart Botanicals. Today, Holly’s Lavender Heart gift shop offers her customers unique gifts for nearly every occasion. Holly’s son is in college, planning on becoming a doctor. Holly’s creativity continues to delight her customers.
You will love the items in Holly’s shop, however if you’re looking for a chicken purse, you’re out of luck. Somebody already bought it.
I love lavender and this shop is a “must go to” for everyone in Seattle or visitung there.
Reblogged this on Wandering Iris and commented:
If you are in Seattle, go to this shop and tell Holly that Iris sent you.