The gentle chime of the shopkeeper’s bell marks the steady flow of customers entering Wild at Heart Flower Bar & Mercantile. They greet owner Heather Moore with a long hug as if entering their mother’s living room. Her husband, Bryan, tells me personal anecdotes about each shopper. Whimsical white drawings by Fort Myers artist Gabrielle Kesecker decorate the windows of the artsy mercantile, where ’60s tunes play from an antique jukebox. The Downtown Fort Myers boutique embodies the socially fueled gardening resurgence taking root in our region. “It’s a whole paradigm shift, looking for that way to make you smile, to get away from the burdens of the world: Go to the movies, meet us at the truck, start a garden, buy another plant,” Bryan says.
Horticultural tradition has strong roots in Southwest Florida, with social groups such as Mina Miller Edison’s Periwinkle Garden Club forming in Fort Myers in 1928 and The Naples Garden Club launching in 1953. Now, a fresh cohort of cultivators is transforming gardening from a weekend hobby to a cultural cornerstone. At these places, teeming social calendars revolve around nature, and diverse crowds reflect the region’s evolving demographic. The fusion of retail and refuge reflects a larger, post-pandemic yearning for spaces blending commerce with community.
At the forefront of this green movement is flower power couple Sean and Melissa Stevenson—loved locally for their lavish and wildly composed event florals—who brought the DIY arrangement concept to Naples in 2017, when they opened Kaleidoscope Home on Fifth Avenue South. Their dreamy bouquet bar full of uncommon blooms quickly grew a following, sparking a movement beyond retail. “People were getting inspired by [the flowers],” Sean says. “Nonstop, we had requests for classes and group experiences.” In November, the Stevensons opened the latest iteration of their shop in East Naples, with a large garden for experiences, including yoga sessions and the Chinese tile game, Mahjong.
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Photography by Austin Trenholm
Kaleidoscope Floral garden
Flower power couple Sean and Melissa Stevenson have been at the forefront of Naples’ floral renaissance, shaping the city’s botanical culture with their distinctive eye for untamed elegance. At their newest Kaleidoscope Floral location, blooms—sculpted, styled and celebrated with the same reverence as fine art—serve as the backdrop for community.
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Photography by Austin Trenholm
the stevensons florists
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Photography by Austin Trenholm
floral display arrangement inside
Inside the mossy green building, sunlight streams across wooden shelves lined with matte black Cire Trudon candles and sculptural ceramic vessels, while the pantry area glows with refrigerated cases of natural wines, along with artisanal cheeses and other provisions. The buttery scent of fresh croissants from the cafe counter—via a partnership with Bonita Springs’ darling Wolfmoon bakery—mingles with the perfume of coral ranunculus and butter- yellow garden roses. Peeking through the glass production door, you see Melissa working with a cascade of ivory peonies and garden roses, their petals unfurling in the humidity, while shop cat Frank weaves between fallen leaves and stems. Outside, shell-paved paths wind through a garden, where wooden children’s games spill across the grass, seasonal visitors ogle native palms and dogs lie patiently by their owners under red-trimmed umbrellas. “It’s beautiful, but it’s not unapproachable, and it’s not snooty,” Sean says, describing the aesthetic they designed. “It’s a cool place where people feel comfortable.”
Photography by Austin Trenholm
Kaleidoscope Floral bouquet
Kaleidoscope Floral’s journey has been as dynamic as its arrangements. After a pioneering space on Fifth Avenue South and a short-lived but gorgeous stint on Third Street South, the Stevensons have settled into their dreamiest iteration yet—an airy East Naples shop with a secret garden and a pop-up from Bonita Springs cult-favorite Wolfmoon bakery.
Further west, interior designer-turned- florist Allison Keevan also invites guests to linger when they visit her new, chic Old Naples flower shop, Flora & Fauna. “You are constantly giving or getting flowers for various occasions throughout your life,” Allison says. “They just bring a sense of peace and a connection with nature.” At a recent Sound Bath Bubbles & Blooms event with a local sound healer, attendees capped off the relaxation with a glass of bubbly from the Champagne bar, a key component of the multi-use space. She also keeps a stock of pre-made arrangements, curated seasonal wares and locally made goods, and a DIY bar filled with dainty blooms.
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Photography by Kelly Jones
flora and fuana allison keevan
At Flora & Fauna, flowers pair well with a glass of bubbly. With its in-house Champagne bar, the Old Naples boutique invites guests to sip while they browse, arrange or simply take in the blooms. Like other botanically minded social salons, her shop champions a holistic approach to life—a recent event included a breathwork and sound bath experience.
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Photography by Kelly Jones
flora and fauna
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Photography by Kelly Jones
flora and fauna allsion keevan
Back at Wild at Heart, nearly all cut flowers are sourced from a private wholesaler in Punta Gorda—aside from a few imports by request—and a chandelier of house-dried stems hangs from the center of the room, a sustainable practice to save imperfect blooms. Founders Heather and Bryan were inspired to create their floral-filled sanctuary within the lively downtown strip after their 1962 Ford Econoline floral truck, Willow, amassed a quick and loyal following with her 2022 debut at local markets and events.
Mobile floristry has emerged as the driving force in this green movement. The vibey vehicles fit perfectly in Southwest Florida’s sun-soaked markets. Fort Myers’ M&M Farms was one of the first locally to mobilize the trend with a selection of blooms in the bed of their weathered ’66 Ford pickup truck in 2020. Over the next few years, more trucks popped up from Naples to Fort Myers, each bringing a unique style—from M&M’s rustic-chic pickup to Dottie Jean’s Flower Truck’s whimsical mint-hued ride, where bistro lights and hand-lettered signs create the feeling of an impromptu garden party. In Naples, the Petals the Flower Truck’s cotton-candy-pink 1971 Volkswagen Single Cab, accented by posh black-and-white striped awnings and filled with elegant florals, looks right at home parked at Mercato or Third Street South, where the van often pops up.
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Photography by Katherine Michelle
Sony Viloria’s Petals the Flower Truck
Mobile florists gave the region’s flower movement its momentum, popping up at markets and events and redefining flower buying as a sensory, social experience. Sony Viloria’s Petals the Flower Truck often rolls into places like Mercato, Wonder Gardens and Third Street South with workshops and an ever-changing selection of fresh blooms offered from a whimsical 1971 Volkswagen Single Cab.
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Photography by Katherine Michelle
Sony Viloria’s Petals the Flower Truck
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Photography by Katherine Michelle
Sony Viloria’s Petals the Flower Truck
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Courtesy M&M Farms
m and m farms flower truck
M&M Farms’ Tamber Robinson was among the first to mobilize the trend when she rolled out her flower truck, a 1966 Ford pickup, from her Buckingham family farm in 2020. Below, top: At Wild at Heart Flower Bar & Mercantile, in Downtown Fort Myers, music hums from a vintage jukebox while customers linger among the blooms.
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Courtesy M&M Farms
m and m farms flower truck
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Wild at Heart Flower Bar & Mercantile
Wild at Heart Flower Bar & Mercantile
Plant folk converge at local farmers markets. At any given location, you may run into green thumb Julie Sherer selling coveted monstera Thai constellations and staghorn ferns from her Groovy Growing stand in Fort Myers, or skilled artist Tori Linton with En Root in Naples showing off her handmade macrame hangers and shattered concrete pots.
Photography by Austin Trenholm
potted florals and plants on a table
These plant enthusiasts communicate like the storied Wood Wide Web, the network of fungi deep in the soil believed to connect all trees, allowing them to communicate and heal each other. Through Facebook groups and messenger chats, horticulturalists share dates for plant swaps, growing tips and leads on collectible greenery. Last year, respected landscape architect Christian Busk entered the retail scene with his new 41 Home & Garden in North Naples, where blooms and greenery spill out across half an acre. Outdoor sculptures and potted arrangements throughout inspire dreamy landscapes for green thumbs. Locals also flock to other garden centers that feel more like botanical gardens than retail spaces—from the flamingo-pink Green Door Nursery in Bayshore Art District to the verdant expanse of Marée Farms in rural Fort Myers.
Down a road in rural Old Florida, within Fort Myers’ Buckingham area, Marée reveals itself like a hidden garden, where copper-hued bromeliads and fanning monsteras frame a lily pad-dotted lake. Here, beneath shade cloth and Spanish moss, rows of exotic tropicals thrive—from rare pink princess philodendrons to colorful desert roses.
The nursery gained new life in 2023 when Shana Maree, whose popular Sincerely Succulents began as a modest market stand, partnered with her in-laws to open her succulent shop on-site. Inside a farmhouse, her expanded vision unfolds in a plant-filled oasis, where wood shelving displays boho-chic plant accessories. At the DIY potting station, visitors select from a painter’s palette of succulents—silvery echeverias, spiky chin cacti, variegated hoyas—to create living arrangements. “I envisioned something bigger than just setting up a table,” Shana says. “I pictured a space where people could connect, learn and build community.” Her idea resonates through private potting parties and seasonal events, where enthusiasts gather.
Photography by Christina Bankson
sincerely succulents from top view
Traveling to Sincerely Succulents is a plant lover’s pilgrimage. Located within a sliver of Old Florida in Fort Myers’ Buckingham area, Shana Maree’s locale presents a trove of exotic succulents—lush, pink-tipped echeverias, spiky star cacti, trailing strings of pearls—sparking a sense of discovery at every visit.
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Photography by Christina Bankson
Shana from sincerely succulents
Shana partnered with her in-laws in 2023 to open Sincerely Succulents on their Marée Farms property. The rural site also houses their nursery, filled with bromeliads, philodendrons and colorful blooms, traditional Spanish garden pots for sale, and a shop with contemporary gardening accessories and a DIY potting bar.
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Photography by Christina Bankson
sincerely succulents
Like other flower-powered sanctuaries in the region, the site has evolved into a botanical salon, where master gardeners and novice growers connect over their shared passion for Southwest Florida’s verdant possibilities.