About Me

Cedar Bridge Botanicals is a one-woman show based outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It bloomed from a small idea I had on a whim in December of 2019, along with a medium sized cardboard box. I started school a few months later in February of 2020. I learned a lot in the two or so months that followed before the COVID-19 pandemic knocked on our doors. The school was unprepared for this, so we were sent home without schoolwork for two months, since even instructors weren't allowed back on campus. As I had been laid off and no longer had school to take up my time, I, like most people started a new garden.

Normally, my family has a garden every year, but this year I made two new flower beds; something I had never done before. Both started a garden from a grassy lawn. The bed of herbaceous and woody perennials along the side of the house is the closest to a flower bed I had ever planted. Or, perhaps the full strips of daffodils, naked ladies, and peonies in the "way back" backyard. No, this was the first time I put sunflowers, zinnias, gladiolus, gazanias, snapdragons, and more into one bed without having a single vegetable. But, what when the days were too hot or rainy to work outside in the garden?

I picked up watercolors and worked with flowers I collected and dried from my garden. Something that I never imagined I would be "good at." Even the days where I spent all of my time painting and gardening, it still left hours to do nothing. During this time, I joined the wave of people online looking for ways to replace the lost craft fairs. I entered a lot of online fairs on Facebook and essentially screamed into the endless internet void about my Etsy shop. It was during this time, too, I assumed it wasn't possible to ship plants reliably. That is something else COVID taught me was untrue.

Flash forward to February of 2021 and I have several sales, repeat customers, and social media of (almost) every kind. You can follow me on my adventure @cedarbridgebotanicals on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok! Though I no longer offer watercolors or dried flower products year long, I have expanded the plants available and continue to do so year after year. Every year, I get closer to my dream of having my own greenhouse and brick and mortar shop. I find myself attending more and more reptile expos, farmers markets, and craft shows where I do my best to help others gain the knowledge they need to help their plants thrive, not just survive!