Local florist and landscaper Daniela Standley knows flowers like family. “I’ve always had a calling [to] flowers. It’s easy for me to know what they need and want,” Standley shared with The Sopris Sun.
She realized her affinity for flowers as a teenager and graduated high school early in order to attend a vocational college program in horticulture. She worked for VeldKamp’s Flowers in Denver and even competed in floracultural competitions. Standley moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1980 and 10 years later fulfilled a dream of owning a Main Street flower shop in Carbondale, The Floral Boutique. She sold the business in 2005. Flowers are still sold out of the same space today at 435 Main Street.
Her myriad of experiences with flowers have nurtured her latest pursuit. Standley continues to run her landscaping business, Floral Gardens, but this summer she realized what started out as an idea. After nearly two decades in the making, she published her children’s book, “If Flowers Could Talk.”
“I thought about the book for 15 years before writing it,” stated Standley, and started putting her ideas on paper about five years ago. “I wrote the draft between late 2019 and March 2020 before putting it away for a few years.” The manuscript was accepted by a publisher late last year and released this August.
Part of the motivation for the book, Standley explained, is sharing her knowledge of flowers in a more lasting way. “I don’t have my own children. I wanted to teach and help new and old generations connect with flowers in a different way,” she said, drawing inspiration from the lessons she has learned from flora over time.
Of flowers and people alike, and entire ecosystems for that matter, she said, “We need each other,” and slid in, “I want to get kids off of technology and interacting with the living world.”
“It’s sort of an autobiography but fictionalized into four seasons as experienced by the main character, Petal,” she said of the book. The plotline is complemented with information about local and regional flowers and ecosystems, so that readers learn about horticulture while following the adventures of Petal, the protagonist flower. Over the course of each season, Petal meets other flowers and beings and learns about resilience and community.
Standley foresees the potential of “If Flowers Could Talk” teaching kids more about flowers while transferring valuable messages about identity and friendship. “It’s okay to be different as long as you’re kind and good. It’s important to feel welcome and be accepted,” Standley explained. A big part of that theme is emphasized at the end of the book, when Petal discovers she is not in fact a columbine, but a Calypso orchid — which are very rare.
In her own garden, Standley enjoys nurturing unique blossoms. “I couldn’t say that I love any particular flower more than another,” she responded when asked what her favorite species might be. “I appreciate delicate, harder-to-grow flowers,” she granted.
Her garden and surroundings continue to offer inspiration beyond the blooms. Standley is considering additional ventures in children’s literature based on the fauna she gets to observe from her cabin. “I might write a book centered on foxes. I get to observe a lot of foxes where I live.”
For now, though, Standley is pleased to share her knowledge through “If Flowers Could Talk.” “It’s a feel-good book,” she said, but also a great teaching tool for blossom recognition and understanding the care and conditions different flowers need to thrive. “The more fathers and mothers buy it, the more it can benefit families,” she ventured. She is working on scheduling events with local libraries and schools to reach more kids and their parents.
You can buy “If Flowers Could Talk” at White River Books or Flowers on Main Street in Carbondale. It is available online from Barnes & Noble or from Amazon. On the latter retailer’s website, the book has received unanimously five-star reviews in the two months it has been available.