Perfectly nestled in a small corner business space in the trendy Granary District on Depot Street at the corner of Main Avenue—which already includes a brewpub, wine bar, bike shop, high-end restaurant and apartment flats—is the recently opened Realm Flower Company.
While her new endeavor is three weeks old, floral designer/business owner Becky Ruebsamen is a familiar face in Morgan Hill, previously owning a local salon before making the switch from hair to flowers.
“I fell in love with doing flowers and here I am,” said the 55-year-old Morgan Hill resident of 24 years.
She describes her Realm Flower Company as not just your traditional flower shop but also a gift shop—where she showcases many local and regional artists’ work for sale—and a workshop where she hosts weekly hands-on floral arrangement and arts-and-crafts classes. (The first Dec. 16 workshop sold out right away so she added a second that same day.)
“We’re not your average type of flower shop. We have retail and gifts as well. We have something for everyone,” said Ruebsamen, who handpicks the products sold in her boutique and leads the floral services. “It’s been amazing. So many people are curious when they spot the shop and they just walk right in, which is what I want.”
Ruebsamen hopes her business will benefit from plenty of foot traffic from established nearby destinations such as the Running Shop and Hops and The Grapevine. Her shop includes a “Beer can cactus garden” and “Bike-themed T-towels” in honor of nearby business, Bike Therapy.
“It’s a cool space,” she said. “This courtyard is amazing.”
The retail space of her shop also includes items that stick to her mantra of “Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose,” along with Santa Cruz-based “Fish Princess” goat milk soap and lotion, Santa Barbara-based “Raw” lip balm and a mix-your-own Aromatherapy oils stand.
While Ruebsamen’s shop showcases area artisans with photography, paintings, ceramics, woodwork and metal work, the heart and soul of Realm is her floral arrangements. She decorates the shop with ready-to-go flower arrangements of varying sizes. Customers who have something more specific in mind can call in to place and order or drop by for consultation to “personalize it.” She recently did several arrangements for a holiday party but said anything “down to one bloom in a little bottle,” is available for purchase.
Ruebsamen has begun to use her business’ Instagram account (Realm Flower Company) to help showcase her detailed floral skills.
She’s also working out a partnership with Odeum Restaurant called “Flower to Table,” where diners out for a special occasion can pre-order a floral arrangement to decorate their table and add to that ambiance.
“I’m an idea person,” said Ruebsamen, also a landscape designer by trade.
A mother of three adult children with three grandchildren, Ruebsamen was in between jobs about six months ago when she made the decision to start her own floral business.
“I had left a job and thought, ‘I don’t want to work for someone else again,” she recalled. “I told myself, ‘If you are gonna do this, you’ve gotta do it now.’ This is it.”
What: Realm Flower Company
Where: 17500 Depot St. Suite 122
When: Open Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10am-6pm; Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays 11am to 7pm; Sunday workshops; Closed Mondays
Who: Owner and floral designer Becky Ruebsamen
