New floral business embraces fun possibilities of natural beauty

A new Homewood business is offering a floral touch on classic retail design. 

Wild Things Flowers and Curiosities, located at 2815B 18th St. S., officially opened in January as a light and inviting full-service florist that provides everyday floral delivery to most places in Homewood, Birmingham, Hoover and Vestavia Hills. They provide flowers for weddings and other events, as well as a retail section with a mixture of new and vintage décor.

Wild Things also hosts varying arrangement workshops every month. Each one is an hour-and-a-half long and includes beer, wine and snacks. Some are generic centerpiece or seasonal arrangement classes, while other classes are more specialized such as “Arranging in Floral Foam” or “Hand-tied Bouquets.” 

This is owner Carolyn Harbert’s first time running a business but not her first experience with floral arrangement. She said she was inspired to start working with flowers by watching her mother. 

“My mom was always gardening when I was growing up at home. [She] worked at a florist when she was in high school, so I applied at our local florist,” Harbert said. “When I got to college, I applied for a job at a different florist, and that is where I really got to start designing things myself.” 

Harbert has a background in graphic design and studio art, which she said has had an influence on both her creative process and vision when it comes to floral arranging. After working in advertising in Atlanta and moving to Birmingham for her husband’s job, she decided to bring her love of flowers to Homewood. 

“I did a lot of work for big companies in Atlanta, and they were just so strict,” Harbert said. “Flowers are so natural, and everybody kind of just accepts them the way they are, so it was just a lot more free to design that way.” 

Harbert said she had looked at a couple of different places to set up shop but settled on Homewood because of the booming retail market. 

Especially since Dorothy McDaniel’s Flower Market moved to downtown Birmingham,Harbert said she wanted to fill the need for a florist in Homewood. 

“We’re kind of targeting that hip, young crowd that Birmingham is kind of known for,” she said. 

When it comes to the future of Wild Things, Harbert said there may be plans to expand to more locations throughout Alabama, but it is hard to say right now because they have only been open for six months. 

“I just wanted it to be a different creative outlet for Birmingham. I feel like taking up flower arranging classes is something a little bit out-of-the-box and something you would not think about doing regularly,” she said. “But it is really fun.”  

To learn more about classes and other offerings, visit wildthingsbhm.com.