More than a century ago, workers at City Floral would hop on their bicycles, ride down the then-dirt road that was Colfax Avenue, and hand-deliver African violets to the esteemed Brown Palace.
How does Candace Owens, who owns City Floral Greenhouse and Garden today, know that African violets were popular when the shop first opened in the early 1900s?
A customer told her so.
“Somebody was at our 115th anniversary celebration and she told me she grew up across the alley from the [former] owners,” Owens said. “She was telling me all about how violets were just huge in that day.”
Denver has certainly changed since City Floral opened as a greenhouse in the Montclair neighborhood in 1911, but it continues bringing us beauty in the form of flowers, houseplants, garden supplies, and of course, those signature violets. Now a complete garden center with a flower growing facility in Golden, City Floral sells popular blooms like geraniums and petunias, plus vegetable plants and less common varieties like dinner plate dahlias.
“They're probably three feet tall already,” Owens said. “These big blooms, vibrant colors roughly the size of a dinner plate. They're pretty irresistible.”
The century-old floral staple is also well prepared for the massive influx of customers during this very popular flower-forward holiday. “Mother's Day weekend is kind of like Black Friday for flowers. It's considered the frost free date here in Colorado. We are stock-full of truckload after truckload of flowers,” Owens said.
And they don’t just make great bouquets. City Floral runs a popular Mother’s Day special for hanging baskets — $10 off two or more hanging baskets — which customers return for year after year.
“We'll literally have thousands of hanging baskets in the facility by Friday to choose from,” Owens says. “It's sort of like a candy store for adults with flowers. Just beautiful color everywhere you see.”
