Copy of Who we are

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anais Nin

I'm Kelli Davis. Owner, grower, and floral designer at Spanish Street Gardens. 

I came to floral design a little later than one would think. Which, looking back, makes absolutely no sense. Among my friends, I was always the one a little too preoccupied with beauty. I found it everywhere. In colors and fabrics, a pretty rock, a blade of grass. An old door. The typography in a book. The smell of a really good cheese. The way sunlight dances across the ocean. I was the girl who read poetry, majored in Art History, and backpacked across Europe in her twenties, probably stopping far too often to admire things everyone else walked right past.

My mother is an interior designer who often spoke of her dream of owning a bespoke plant shop. As she told me her dreams my mind would create a vivid picture where I could practically smell the damp earth and see the soft light filtering through greenhouse glass. You'd think a career in floristry would have been an obvious next chapter for me. A natural fit. A logical leap, really.

And yet, somehow, I ended up in a career in public sector consulting. Then marriage. Motherhood. Divorce. And somewhere along the way, beauty took a backseat. Then the backseat became the trunk. There were bills to pay, a career to build, a child to raise. Beauty wasn't exactly making the top ten on my list of priorities.

But the funny thing about who you really are is that she has a way of finding you again.

For me, it came in the form of a second marriage, a beautiful new home on a historic property in Sutter Creek with a story of its own. 
With a little love, a lot of sweat, and more than a few moments of wondering what on earth we'd gotten ourselves into, we began restoring the grounds and the flower gardens. And then, because apparently we weren't busy enough, expanding them.

And just like that, I found myself back in the world of flowers.
Have you ever had one of those moments when everything suddenly clicks? When something feels so completely right that you wonder how you ever spent so much of your life doing anything else? And, more importantly, how you could ever imagine doing anything else again?

That was floral design for me.

It brings together just about everything I've ever loved: beauty, history, creativity, and the joy of connecting with people. It's a little bit of art history, a little bit of gardening, and a whole lot of getting my hands dirty. Turns out, all those years of collecting beautiful things, noticing the details, and stopping to smell the cheese were leading somewhere after all.

Spanish Street Gardens is the happy result.

We're so glad you're here. Whether you're stopping by for flowers, following along as our gardens grow, or simply sharing in this little adventure, we're thrilled to be part of your story, too.

Here's to beautiful things, old gardens, new beginnings, and always having a reason to enjoy what is beautiful around you.