St. Pete Times Article July 13, 2008

Carlson-Wildwood Florist
Mother-son florists on the move
By Christina K. Cosdon, Times Staff Writer In print: Sunday, July 6, 2008

Cheryl Pacheco owns Carlson-Wildwood Florist, where son Matthew is her star designer. Don’t let the tie fool you. It’s a dirty job. The florists on Clearwater-Largo Road in Largo hope to be in their new location nearby by December.
[JOSEPH GARNETT JR. Times]
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A customer walking into Carlson-Wildwood Florist would first notice the heady fragrance of fresh flowers and exotic plants.
Next they'd see the funky faux leopard carpeting throughout the shop.
Leopard spots are quickly forgotten, however, among all the other things to see, including handblown Polish glass vases, French-milled soaps, blooming orchids, handmade greeting cards and wire animals made with real moss.
But the business' main attraction is its head designer, 25-year-old Matthew Pacheco.
Cheryl Pacheco never dreamed her son would be joining the business when she bought it six years ago.
"He was working for a florist in Charlotte, N.C., and came back here to go to school and work part time for me," she said. "When he decided school wasn't working out, he joined me full time and now he's my star designer. He does really unusual designs and handles all the high-end arrangements."
Last fall, Pacheco and her husband, John, a marine engineer who works as a contractor for the Navy, bought property at 1488 Clearwater-Largo Road to expand their shop. They moved the business from Belleair and leased a temporary space near the new property. Now that all the permits and plans are in place, construction is about to begin.
"We hope to be in our new home by December," said Cheryl Pacheco.
In addition to flowers and gourmet and gift baskets, the new place will offer classes in ikebana and flower arranging. Local ceramic artists will be invited to display work that can be for floral arrangements.
What do you enjoy most about the florist business?
"No two days are the same. I love that part. Every day is a new challenge," Cheryl Pacheco said.
"It's hard work, but it's a lot of fun and it makes people happy most of the time. Funerals are tough."
What are the disadvantages?
"The stress," she said. "There's a lot of stress. Like if you have a special order and the flowers come in bruised or the wrong color.
The first wedding I ever did was booked by the previous owners. They had ordered peach gerber daisies. What arrived were white gerber daisies and a can of paint.
On busy days, designers are on their feet 10 to 12 hours, lifting heavy buckets of water with flowers, cleaning the flowers, cleaning the vases, cleaning the buckets. You get pretty dirty. There's a lot of sweeping and hauling trash."
Where do your flowers come from?
"Most of them come from Colombia, Guatemala and Ecuador. Others come from all over the world: Holland, New Zealand, Australia, California, Israel," she said. "Most flowers don't have a season anymore. You can get tulips most any time, hydrangeas anytime. Carnations are getting to be very expensive and difficult to find. A lot of growers don't want to grow them because other flowers have a higher profit."
Christina K. Cosdon can be reached at (727) 445-4154 or cosdon@sptimes.com.
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If you go
Carlson-Wildwood Florist, 1775 Clearwater-Largo Road. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Call (727) 446-4610 or visit www.belleairflorist.com.[Last modified: Jul 05, 2008 04:32 AM]