Finding Fate through a Stranger’s Garden by Amanda of Alluring Blooms

Divine intervention. Fate. Kismet. Whatever you want to call it, I am grateful for it everyday.

I’m Amanda, the owner of Alluring Blooms in Madison, Wisconsin. I do floral for weddings and events with the help of my wonderful husband Matthew. When Alicia reached out to me asking if I’d be willing to share the story of our new home I happily said yes. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and the universe guides us in the direction we are meant to go. I hope by sharing our story it inspires others to be bold – you never know where it might lead you!

Like I said, I do flowers for weddings and events. Flowers are my passion, they bring me so much joy and I love sharing that joy with others. That being said, health insurance is not something our family can afford out of pocket, so I also work full time outside the studio. When Matthew and I purchased our first home almost ten years ago we really wanted a house in the city. We looked at homes in our “comfort zone” (we didn’t want a 30 year mortgage) and it quickly became obvious that our budget was going to force us to look outside the city. We found a perfect house for us 45 minutes north of Madison. It had a huge yard for our future dog and future kids and plenty of room for gardens. The daily commute was rough and we talked about moving into the city with each passing year. Unfortunately we never found the right place and eventually gave up on the idea… Until one fateful day in August 2016.

I have a coffee addiction (in this industry that shouldn’t be a surprise, lots of long nights). This means I know where a Starbucks is wherever I may be working in town. There’s one near my flower wholesaler. I’ll often grab a cup on my break, then cut through the back roads to run and grab flowers. I would always drive past this street and notice the amazing lacey tardiva hydrangea bushes in the front yard of one of the houses.

Sooooo, there was a wedding I had planned on using MY tardiva hydrangea for. As luck would have it, there was an early fall frost and my hydrangea started to antique much earlier than they had in years past. I needed white for this wedding. Antique pink just wasn’t going to cut it. Then I remembered the hydrangea house. They didn’t get frost in the city 45 minutes south like we had up north. What’s the harm in stopping to ask if they would sell me some stems?

I mustered up all my courage and knocked on the door. Heart pounding. Palms sweating. Was this really what my life had come to? Rehearsing what I was gonna say so the owner doesn’t think I’m a lunatic when they answer the door. No answer. Are you kidding me? I went back to the car and wrote a note:

“Hi! My name is Amanda. You don’t know me but I absolutely adore your hydrangea and am wondering if you would sell me some stems to use for an event. Please contact me if you’re so inclined.”

I tucked it into the door, and went on my way. The next day I got a call from the owner – a wonderful woman named Sue. She said to please come over and prune all I wanted. She often used them for arrangements in the past but hadn’t the last few years. I was thrilled and so grateful.

I stopped by later that week and went back up to that front door. This time knocking wasn’t so scary. She greeted me with a smile and the fire in her eyes immediately made me feel at ease. She showed me around her yard. Years and years of plants she had lovingly planted, now huge and wild. She told me about the tall pines that once stood in place of these now huge perennials. I was in awe. I think she could see the amazement in my eyes. She asked if I wanted to see the back yard. OF COURSE! Rock walls and stone paths and wood decks and boardwalks with boards that had seen better days. It was an oasis in the heart of the city. I told her it was gorgoeus. She laughed her big laugh and said “You wanna buy it?”. I laughed back, surely she was joking. I picked my hydrangea and headed home.

Once I got home that night I told the story about the amazing lady I had met. How I was so happy she responded to my note. How she laughed and asked if I wanted to buy the house. Matthew said “Was she serious?”. I was quiet. “No. Surely not. I don’t think so? I didn’t ask. I thought she was joking. Should I ask?” I wrote her a heartfelt note and made her a big arrangement as a token of my thanks.

In my note I told her if she ever was seriously in the market to sell, let us know. She called me the next week and said she was serious. She had talked to a realtor to list it a few years back and they told her she would have to clean the yard up and seed or sod some areas if she wanted the best chance of selling. The very thing I fell in love with they told her was a detractor. The other caveat, Sue said, “The cat comes with the house”. Hahaha. Matthew said “OK!” The last puzzle piece was closing. She needed someone who could be flexible with move in. She had a specific retirement community she wanted to move in to, and she didn’t know if the wait list would be 2 months, 6 months, a year or even more. No problem. We had given up on our dream of living so close to work. Surely we could wait however long it might take.

The next thing I knew we were writing offers and making plans. We ended up closing on our new home in June 2017, over 10 months after that fateful day. We kept Sue’s cat. He’s a big orange furball who is friendly enough when he wants to be. He loves cuddling with Matthew – I’m kind of jealous. Ok. I’m really jealous. We also kept her standard poodle. He’s a smart, sweet boy who has stolen our hearts. He and our dog are learning to be friends. We’ve spent the last 6 months moving, remodeling, and working in the yard. The list of projects is never ending. I’ve thinned out hundreds of hostas and pulled hundreds of redbud saplings. I’ve planted thousands of bulbs and can’t wait to see them up in the spring. There’s still so much more work to do. But with each weed I pull and each new plant I put into the ground, I am SO GRATEFUL that the universe put Sue in our life. That hydrangea house is now our home. We still see Sue often – we spent Christmas day together in our newly remodeled kitchen which was once hers. We drank and laughed and made plans about what the garden has in store for 2018. We were given such an amazing gift – a home, cherished pets and a one of a kind forever friend.

So be brave! Knock on that door, whatever your “door” is. You never know what is waiting for you on the other side!

All images in this post provided to Flirty Fleurs by Amanda Frankewicz for use in this interview.