My name is Natalia and I am the owner of Natalia’s Garden Center. My love for nature started at a very young age playing outdoors and bonding with animals. As a Puerto Rican, I found so much love and admiration for nature when visiting the island. The island is filled with so much life and color. Puerto Rico has been one of the inspirations for me to have my own nursery as I could only dream of creating my own tropical oasis. Growing up in sunny Florida helped fuel my obsession with plants. Since Florida has a warm climate, there is so much biodiversity. When I began to work in my early adult life, I started to buy my own plants and that is when my obsession for plants really took off. I would start propagating plants, growing seeds, and learning as much as I could about them.

After a traumatic hit and run car accident that landed me 2.5 months in the hospital, more than 3.5 months without walking, more than 33 surgeries throughout 2 years, and nearly having my hand amputated, I found myself gardening and making art more as it was my therapy. My favorite thing was being able to combine both art and plants together. That is when I began to teach myself how to be an artist with my left hand since my right hand which was dominant had loss majority of its function. Over time, patience, and practice, I began to create intricate hand painted flower pots and I would pair them with the plants I grew. Before I knew it, people were requesting commissions and I eventually created an online Etsy shop where I would sell my art. Throughout the years I sold my art at music events, pop up markets, and even at a few nurseries.

A few years later, I found myself a neat plant nursery in DeBary called Susie’s Cool Beans. I was fascinated by their plant selection, knowledge and love for butterflies, and free spirit. After my 3rd time shopping at the nursery, I thought I would ask Susie if I could work there since I loved plants so much. Susie enthusiastically welcomed me to come work and “play with the caterpillars and butterflies,” she said. Susie’s for me was a major part of my life as it taught me so much about the industry, how to educate our community about gardening and pollinators, and gave me a sense of purpose I had never felt before. Susie was an iconic woman and inspired me so much with the amount of love and passion she poured into the place. Anyone that knows Susie would talk very highly of her as she was a ray of sunshine and would leave her beam on everyone she encountered! I am honored to be able to have the chance to keep her spirit alive in a new light. One thing that I learned after my car accident and after Susie’s accident is that life is so precious and fragile, we never know if tomorrow is promised, so we have to do the best we can to appreciate and live our lives doing the things we love.