When Floridalma Palacios was a child in Guatemala, she had a recurring dream of walking alone through fields of blooming white roses. Back then, she didn’t know what to make of it. Now that her daily life revolves around flowers, the 60-year-old Northeast Los Angeles business owner calls it prophetic.
“I was very happy walking among the roses,” Palacios told The LA Local. “It was all green leaves and the beautiful [flowers], there were no old roses and nothing looked dry.”
Palacios has operated Belen Flowers on the corner of York Boulevard and Branch Street in Highland Park for nearly 25 years. For the past 10 years, Belen Flowers has been listed as open 24 hours on Google Maps. When a customer calls, Palacios wakes up and walks over from her nearby home to help, no matter the hour.
Before the pandemic, she said roughly 20 customers a month would call during late-night hours. Now it is closer to three. Most of the business comes from walk-in customers.
As you enter, you’re greeted by the owner’s warm smile, her playful cats and a wide range of colors — stuffed animals, celebratory balloons and, of course, flowers.
She learned the business entirely on her own: the names of flowers in both English and Spanish, where the best roses come from — Ecuador, she says — and how to quickly build custom bouquets, trimming stems to the right length and selecting blooms for each customer’s taste.
“If I stopped working, I think I would be sad,” Palacios said. “I’ve been doing this work for so many years and I like it because people leave happy and they like the flower arrangements I make.”
Palacios left Guatemala because of the country’s difficult financial conditions, which she said were worsened by factory and coffee farm owners who exploited workers — especially children. She began working at age 10, planting and harvesting coffee.
“[The owners] buy farms and exploit young children a lot. They give them the work of adults but pay them like children, that is, a little bit,” she said.
At 18, she moved to Mexico City, where she worked in a bakery and earned roughly five times what she had made back home. When she was 24-years-old, Palacios made her way to Los Angeles and began selling flowers on the street.
The shop’s name was inspired by her daughter, Belen, now 24. Palacios said she has cherished watching the two grow side by side.
2020 was one of Belen Flowers’ best years. Since then, the business has struggled to stay afloat, citing local economic conditions. The shop still offers arrangements for every budget, with prices ranging from $10 to $100.
As Highland Park has changed around her, Palacios credits rent control as one of the main reasons she has been able to stay open. When she first opened, she paid $800 a month. Today, she pays $1,600.
“I consider myself lucky because that’s why I’m still there. If not, I would put out a little tent and still be selling [flowers] on the street,” she said. “Dreams are possible, but you have to put a lot of effort on your part.”
Diversifying her services has also helped. Belen Flowers now offers table and chair rentals and balloon arrangements for events, among other services.
Over the years, Palacios has watched customers move away, pass away and grow up — and some have come back to visit her.
“People tell me, ‘Good thing you’re still here,'” she said. “They always remember me, the flower shop, and they come and buy [flowers].”
