a rural houseplant haven…
Our story
Hi - we're Janine & Neil, a husband and wife team, and we'd like to welcome you to Willow Houseplants. Janine, originally from Derbyshire, has been a florist all her working life. After almost 30 years in the industry her passion for plants inspired her to take her work in a new direction
"I've always loved having plants in my home, and I felt it was the right time to create a space where people can explore the wealth of plants available, match them up with beautiful containers, and find the right advice about placing and caring for their plants".
And so, Willow Houseplants was born. The shop was first opened in March 2020 in the nearby village of Doune, where we live, and moved to Callander in October 2022.
It’s all about the timing, they said…
As it turns out, our timing was more than a little unfortunate, and after just one week Willow Houseplants had to close its doors, along with our neighbouring traders, because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Undeterred, we re-designed our web site to become an on-line storefront, offering our plants, containers and plant care products for collection or local delivery.
The response was very encouraging and, thanks to the help of customers, family and friends, word has spread and our community of houseplant enthusiasts continues to grow. We're absolutely delighted to be open again after our third period of lockdown and will be eternally grateful to our wonderful customers for their continued support.
room to grow…
You can take the girl out of the florist, but you can’t take the florist out of the girl.
One regular question visitors have asked is ‘why don’t you sell flowers’? The obvious answer, of course, is that we’re a houseplant shop, but that may seem a bit glib. Truth is, Janine’s a skilled and accomplished florist, so it’s a perfectly valid question.
Cut flowers just don’t seem to fit with the more sustainable decorative option of houseplants. Dried flowers, though - now there’s a more sustainable option! Luckily Janine loves (really loves) working with dried flowers, so before long bunches, bouquets and decorated hoops began to become a popular feature of the shop.
It didn’t take long for word to spread, and now Dried Bridal Flowers has been added to the list of services provided at Willow…
still growing…
And the journey continues. In 2021 we were delighted to win the title of Best Independent Retailer (Falkirk & Stirling) at Scotland’s Business Awards, and were honoured to have a motion passed in the Scottish Parliament in praise of Willow Houseplants.
As part of our efforts to build a post-COVID customer base, during the first half of 2022 we embarked on a series of visits to specialist craft and wedding fairs beyond our immediate area, and before long we were beginning to feel that we had out-grown our gorgeous wee shop.
When larger premises became available in nearby Callander, we decided the time was right to broaden our horizons.
Our new premises in Callander gives us a chance to expand what's on offer at Willow. We’ll be arranging local workshops on houseplant care, new approaches to displaying houseplants, and dried flower art. Always with one eye on sustainable practices, we're also planning to provide fresh flowers - chemical free Scottish flowers, grown locally, in season - so watch this space!
We have plans for Willow and, just like the beautiful indoor greenery we provide, look forward to seeing it grow and flourish.
We look forward to meeting you on the journey.
All the best
Janine & Neil x
