JoElle Anderson started seeing dragonflies everywhere in the days after her mother passed away in July 2010. They’d appear on the side of a breezy road. In a dry yard, where dragonflies normally wouldn’t appear. Her sisters, who live out of state, also started seeing dragonflies everywhere.
So when Anderson, 44, opened her first flower shop in downtown Seymour this month, she decided to name the place in memory of her mother, Jo-Anne LaPardo Boni.
Dragonflies, LLC A Floral Studio opened on Feb. 1 in the storefront formerly occupied by the Seymour Flower Shop.
Valley Indy: So how did you get involved in the flower business?
Anderson: When my first son was born in 1992, I had friends who were opening a garden center and florist — Wyldflowers in Oxford. I knew nothing about either, but I went back to school, took design classes for landscaping. It was just a part-time job for after I had the baby. But I just loved it.
Valley Indy: You said you worked at other florists and garden centers since then. What made you decided to start your own shop?
Anderson: In 2005 I opened my own landscaping company, J&J Gardens LLC. This was something for the winter income. And I just loved doing it. I was doing wedding stuff out of my house for a while. So when Seymour Flower Shop closed in November, I decided to start my own shop.
Valley Indy: Valentines Day is approaching. What are some of the most popular items for the holiday?
Anderson: We’ll have potted plants in baskets, roses, assorted chocolates and truffles from Tidmarsh’s in Ansonia.
The guys mainly go for the red roses because they think that’s what they should buy. If it was up to me, I’d get a mixed bouquet with some roses mixed in. The flowers will expire at all different times. . . You can enjoy it longer.
Valley Indy: How about trends with wedding flowers?
Anderson: Flower balls for flower girls are really big right now.
Valley Indy: What is a flower ball? And how do you make it?
Anderson: You put the flowers in a ball of oasis, a wet flower foam. Then you run a wire through it, make a loop and put a ribbon on it.
Hand-tied bouquets are the big thing right now (for brides). Way back, it was cascading bouquets. Now, it’s small, hand-tied bouquets.
Valley Indy: How do you handle working in an industry where your product dies so quickly?
Anderson: You keep really good records. Being a new business, I don’t know if I’ll get a lot of traffic or none this holiday. I’ll kind of wing it the first year.
Valley Indy: You said the name of your shop is in memory of your mother, who passed away in July after having cancer for five years.
Anderson: Yes. After she died, my sisters and I began seeing dragonflies. My sister had a dragonfly follower her around. I would see blue and black ones. All summer long. In places you would never see dragonflies. And it’s not like any of us had just moved to where we were. I’m around outside all the time landscaping. There’s places where there is not a stitch of water, which dragonflies are known to be near. And they’re out there. I drive by Great Hill Road, on a main road, with cars driving by and wind blowing. And I’ll see a dragonfly. It’s like they’re following me around. I was really close to my mother.
Valley Indy: Did she work with flowers too?
Anderson: Yes. She made all the flower balls for a wedding this past fall. She used to work at Ace Begonias. She loved flowers. Family and flowers. And cooking.
Valley Indy: What would she have thought about your new shop?
Anderson: She would love it. Everybody tells me that.
Dragonflies, LLC is located at 33 Bank Street in Seymour. Anderson is still determining the hours for Dragonflies, LLC, but plans to be open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. She can be reached at (203) 828-6237
