Council Floral and Garden Center Gears Up for Spring
With winter looking like it’s in the rear view mirror, many locals are starting to turn their attention toward spring and the upcoming growing season. So too, is Katie Clune, the new owner of Council Floral and Garden Center. Katie purchased Council Floral and Garden last year from the previous owner Cindy Minder, and over the last several months has been building up the business again and transforming into something uniquely hers.
Katie Clune (formally Ward) grew up in Council and fondly remembers stopping at the flower shop to buy candy with her great-grandmother as a little girl. With a background in fire and forestry, Katie really developed her love of plants while working in silviculture, the practice of growing and cultivating trees. Floriculture has been a new field for her, but she has really enjoyed learning the craft and creating beautiful arrangements for the community at Council Floral and Garden, where all year long she sells cut flowers, bouquets, and arrangements for special occasions and everyday.
Katie is also selling goods from other local artists and makers in the shop, like products from her brother, Kevin Ward, with Ward Stone and Crafts, who does rock landscaping and beautiful custom stone work. Supporting other local businesses is definitely one of Katie’s goals. “Everything I sell in here, besides the plants and flowers, is Idaho.” said Katie. She also has a goal of reducing excess plastics and trying to lean towards more sustainable products in the shop . “I try to recycle, I try to stay local,” she said, “I reuse as much as I can, I tell people bring it back.” This is especially important to her because of her work in forestry, where she saw so much trash that made its way into the middle of the forest, although it is sometimes challenging to find products with less plastics.
The greenhouse, however, is the bread and butter of the shop. Last year she opened the greenhouse in May, this year it will open sometime in April. Last year, she had herbs, flowers, and vegetable starts, landscaping bushes, fruit trees, dirt, and fertilizers. This year, she will be doing more of the same, but she is also hoping to have more herbs, more succulents, and more xeriscaping plants, plants that you can water the first year, and then forget about. She is also constantly upgrading the stock of dirt and composts, and customers are always welcome to bring special requests and orders.
In the future, Katie hopes to continue to grow and diversify the business. She frequently has special items for holidays and sometimes will partner with other businesses to provide little pop up sales, such as the poppable stuffed balloon bouquets she will be doing with Cheyenne Warner-Bennion for Easter. Always, however, Katie will be happy to provide Council and the surrounding areas with all of their floral and gardening desires.
