Meet Sam Yeoman | Floral Preservation Art

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sam Yeoman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sam, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
To know why I started my business Flora De Keys, you’d first have to know where I came from… Prior to starting my own business, I was a Wedding Florist for many years. I loved to be a Florist, but I was so incredibly busy with events I had no time for myself. A question that I was asked repeatedly at that time was, “Do you know someone local to preserve my bridal bouquet?” … my answer was always no.
I had seen floral preservationists online, but we did not have a local service in Key West. I even had the thought that I could provide that service myself, but I didn’t have the time to entertain that thought seriously.
After I had my son, I left floristry for the stability of an administrative position. Two years passed and I was feeling creatively starved, but I kept at it because the schedule was better for my family. One fine day in Spring 2023, I got the question again… “Do you know someone local who can preserve my bridal bouquet?”
A lightbulb went off, “It’s me! I can do that!”…
… And that was it, I took off running towards this goal. It just felt right, I was going to be a Floral Preservation Artist!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Flora De Keys is a floral preservation business. I take peoples bridal bouquets after the ceremony, (or any flowers from special moments in your life) and break them down, dry them arrange them and preserve them in resin to be cherished for years to come. I’m like the Norman Bates of the floral world. The practice is not so unique, what sets me apart would be my point of view as an artist, I was a florist first, so I understand the composition of what makes a great bouquet and I can translate that into the (sometimes) smaller scale of my work. I want to constantly be changing, evolving and growing, I want to set trends, feel inspired and avoid making the same thing twice. With the start of my new business Flora De Keys, I tried to build it around my idea of how work life balance could be successful for me. I’m snipping and drying flowers with my son underfoot, I run down to my workshop to do resin pours, layouts and sand out imperfections while he naps/after bedtime. I wouldn’t say I’m incredible at this balance yet, but I’m trying!.. and I’m proud of my efforts because it has not been easy.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I’m taking a friend from out of town to all of my favorite places, we would go walk through The Garden Club at West Martello where I got married, walk out onto White Street Pier and watch people fishing off the side, have a picnic at Indigenous Park and look at the turtles and birds wading in the pond… We would go antiquing at Nauti Treasures and have dinner at The Docks on Stock Island. I would take them to visit my buddy and fellow artist Kas Fritts Washed Up Key West and see his custom woodwork, we’d go to Croissants de France for pastry and coffee and walk the neighborhoods near the cemetery and look at all the beautiful architecture that Key West has to offer.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband Aaron and son Ollie, my parents, my brother Darrell, my sister-in-law Karli who always shows up to help me out no matter how crazy my idea sounds, and all of my wonderful wedding vendor friends especially Iris and Arlette (Photographers Extraordinaire), Ania of ‘Effortless Creations’ and Kayla of ‘Blue Thistle Studio’… all of these people have cheered me on and bent over backwards to help me when I needed it. I could not have gotten this far without all of them!

Website: FLORAdeKEYS@gmail.com

Instagram: @flora.de.keys

Image Credits
Iris Moore and Arlette Rodriguez