Talia Boone. Image by Nancy Hernandez
A colorful, lustrous flower bouquet can elicit a smile or a fleeting moment of joy to anyone’s day. But according to a research study conducted by Rutgers University, flowers can also impact mental health triggering happy emotions, heightening feelings of life satisfaction and affecting social behavior in a positive manner. Perhaps we should all make a priority to include flowers in our personal budget!
Los Angeles-based small business owner and florist Talia Boone is a big believer in floral wellness, and has incorporated this ethos into every aspect of her company Post Petals, especially for her female clients. Talia has personally experienced the mental health benefits of floral healing and she’s now an evangelist for the activity as a form of meditation.
Postal Petals was founded in 2020 when, after experiencing prolonged bouts of anxiety, Talia turned to flower arranging as a creative outlet to relieve stress. She saw a drastic improvement in her overall emotional health. Her breakthrough came during the pandemic when tensions were at an all time high and she needed flowers the most. The L.A. Flower Market was closed due to lockdowns. So a series of Google searches for a company to ship her high-quality fresh cut flowers for her to arrange at home turned up nothing. That’s when her entrepreneurial spirit kicked in, and led her to create Post Petals.
Today she teaches flower arranging workshops in-person (and virtually) across the country. Having worked with clients like Dove, The Grammys, iHeart Radio, and Fiverr to name but a few, Talia brings her immersive floral wellness experiences to people everywhere, showing others that take care of your mental health and wellbeing can be found in something as simple as arranging a flower bouquet for yourself.
As Spring starts to blossom, we thought it would be the perfect time to learn more about Talia’s story, the impact Post Petals is having on the Los Angeles community and beyond and how she wants people to start thinking differently about flowers.
Talia Boone. Image by Jasmine Wright
Can you first tell us where your love of flowers and flower arranging came from?
My love for flowers really grew out of a personal need to slow down. For years, I worked in sports, entertainment, and social impact; all industries that move quickly and can be pretty high pressure. Somewhere along the way, flower arranging became my creative outlet. It was one of the few things that helped me step away from the noise for a little while.
What surprised me was how much it actually helped my mental and emotional well-being. When experiencing stress or anxiety, arranging flowers became a small ritual that helped me feel grounded again. There’s something really calming about trimming the stems, paying attention to the colors and textures, and slowly watching something beautiful come together.
When the pandemic hit and the LA Flower Market shut down, I suddenly didn’t have access to the flowers I’d been using for that practice. I started searching online for a company that would ship fresh flowers for people to arrange at home, and I couldn’t find one.
That moment of needing flowers and not being able to get them is ultimately what sparked the idea for Postal Petals.
What started as a personal way to take care of my mental health eventually grew into something much bigger. Today, Postal Petals is all about helping other people experience that same sense of calm, creativity, and connection through flower arranging.
Tell us about launching Postal Petals, and what it offers customers?
Postal Petals really grew out of a simple idea: if flower arranging helped me feel calmer and more grounded, maybe it could help other people too.
During the pandemic, when the LA Flower Market was closed due to lockdowns and I couldn’t find a company online that would ship fresh flowers for people to arrange at home, I started thinking about what that experience could look like. That’s how our DIY Bloom Boxes came to life. Similar to meal kits like HelloFresh, we ship farm-fresh flowers nationwide and give customers the “ingredients” they need to create their own arrangements at home.
But the goal isn’t just to make a bouquet, it’s to create an experience. When someone opens a DIY Bloom Box, they’re stepping into a moment that encourages them to slow down, put their phone away for a bit, and engage in something creative and calming.
Over time, Postal Petals has grown beyond just the boxes. Today we offer a range of floral experiences for workplaces, conferences, and community spaces through workshops and our signature Make & Take Bloom Bars — interactive stations where guests can build their own bouquets. It’s been really special to see how flowers can bring people together, whether someone is arranging at their kitchen table, connecting with coworkers over something other than work during a team-building activity, or finding common ground with new people at an event.
At the end of the day, Postal Petals is about making the joy and wellness benefits of flower arranging accessible to more people.
@postalpetals 🚨 Unboxing Alert! 🚨 Curious what makes Postal Petals® different from a traditional florist? Let us show you! 🌸✨ When your Bloom Box arrives, it’s more than just a delivery—it’s an experience. Each box comes packed with bunches of fresh-cut flowers straight from our farm partners, ready for YOU to arrange! 💐 It’s like a meal kit, but with flowers. 🌿 Relax, create, and release your inner artist with your own floral masterpiece! 🎨 📦 Watch the full unboxing video on our homepage! #PostalPetals #DIYFlowers #floralwellness #unboxingg #SelfCare#JustDIYIt ♬ original sound – postalpetals
We love that you are connecting mental health to your business! Can you explain more about the wellness benefits of flower arranging?
Flower arranging is such a powerful wellness practice because it naturally invites you to slow down and be present. When you’re working with flowers, you’re engaging multiple senses at once like touching the stems, noticing the colors and textures, sometimes even smelling the blooms. That sensory experience helps bring your attention into the moment, which is one of the core principles of mindfulness.
There’s also something really grounding about working with nature. Research has shown that simply interacting with plants and natural elements can improve mood, reduce stress, and support overall well-being. Flowers bring a little bit of the natural world indoors, which can have a calming effect almost immediately.
On top of that, creative expression itself is a proven form of stress relief. Creating something with your hands, especially in a world where so much of our time is spent on screens, allows your mind to shift into a more relaxed, focused state. When you combine creativity with nature, you get this really beautiful intersection that naturally supports self-care and emotional balance.
I see this play out all the time during our workshops and Bloom Bar experiences. People often arrive feeling a little reserved or tired from the day, and within minutes the energy in the room shifts. People relax, start talking, and you can almost see the tension melt away as they focus on their arrangements.
What I love most is that flower arranging doesn’t require you to be an expert. It’s accessible, forgiving, and creative, which makes it a really beautiful way for people to practice self-care without pressure.
How has your personal mental health benefitted from flower arranging?
Flower arranging became one of the first things that truly helped me slow down during a time when my anxiety felt overwhelming. It gave me a quiet space to focus on something simple and creative instead of the constant stream of thoughts that often comes with stress.
What I noticed pretty quickly was that when I was arranging flowers, my mind naturally settled. I’d focus on trimming stems, balancing colors, or deciding where a bloom should go, and for that period of time I wasn’t thinking about everything else going on in my life. It created this small pocket of calm that I could return to whenever I needed it.
Over time, it also became a really meaningful self-care ritual. Even after finishing an arrangement, the flowers stay with you for days. Each morning I might trim the stems, refresh the water, or even redesign the arrangement a little bit. Those small moments of care give me another opportunity to pause and reconnect with myself.
For me, flower arranging became a reminder that wellness doesn’t always have to come from big, complicated changes. Sometimes it comes from simple, creative practices that help you breathe a little deeper and feel more present in the moment.
For someone who might be interested in starting their own flower arranging meditative practice, what suggestions would you give them even if they don’t have a huge budget?
The beautiful thing about flower arranging is that it doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated to be meaningful. You can start very simply. I mean, listen, we sell Bloom Boxes, so technically I should probably be telling people to order one. But the reality is that flowers grow in nature and are widely available. If someone doesn’t have a big budget, they can start with a few bunches of flowers from the grocery store or a local market, or even cut some blooms and greenery from their yard or a neighbor’s (with permission, of course!). That’s more than enough to start experimenting.
One thing I always suggest is focusing less on making the arrangement “perfect” and more on enjoying the process. Put on some music or a meditation you love, pour yourself a cup of hot tea, clear a little space on your table, and take your time trimming stems, noticing the colors and textures, and letting the arrangement come together naturally.
You also don’t need fancy tools. A pair of kitchen scissors or a knife, a simple vase, and a handful of flowers is really all it takes. Sometimes even separating one larger bouquet into a few smaller arrangements can give you multiple moments of creativity throughout your home.
Most importantly, try to treat it like a small ritual rather than a task. Give yourself permission to slow down and be present with the flowers. That shift in mindset is really where the meditative benefits begin.
What kind of spaces and groups have you brought Postal Petals to, and what has been the best feedback you have received?
We’ve brought Postal Petals into a wide range of spaces — from corporate offices and conferences to cultural institutions, community centers, and senior living communities. Anywhere people gather is an opportunity to introduce them to the calming, creative experience of working with flowers.
Some of our floral experiences happen at large events where guests can visit a Make & Take Bloom Bar and build their own bouquets, while others are more intimate workshops designed for team-building, wellness programming, or community connection. But one area that’s especially meaningful to us is bringing floral wellness into spaces that don’t always have access to creative programming.
Through our Free Community Floral Wellness events, we host workshops in underrepresented communities to make the benefits of flower arranging accessible to more people. Each event incorporates movement, meditation, and mindfulness through flower arranging to support participants’ mental and emotional well-being. In the aftermath of the wildfires here in Los Angeles last year, we made a small pivot to these events so that instead of creating arrangements for themselves, participants made bouquets for firefighters as part of our Flowers for First Responders initiative as a simple way for community members to express gratitude for the intense work they do to keep us safe.
We’re also currently exploring partnerships with local correctional facilities to bring floral wellness workshops to residents there as well.
What I love most is seeing how quickly flowers change the energy in a room. People might arrive a little reserved at first, but once they start arranging or building their bouquets, conversations open up, people start sharing ideas, and the whole atmosphere softens.
The feedback that means the most to me is when someone says they didn’t realize flowers could be so relaxing, or how much they needed that moment. We often hear things like, “I haven’t done something creative like this in years,” or “I feel so much more relaxed than when I walked in.” When people leave with both a bouquet and a sense of calm, that’s when I know the experience did exactly what it was meant to do.
@postalpetals As Coachella weekend 1 kicks off, we’re throwing it back to our Bloom Bar takeover at the Grammys Nominee Brunch in LA earlier this year 🌸✨. Music x Flowers are always in season. 🎶🌼 #PostalPetals#BloomBar#MakeAndTakeBloomBar #CoachellaReady#FlowerCrowns#MusicxFlowers ♬ Flowers – Miley Cyrus
In a world that is so divided and filled with bad news, how can flower arranging be a form of self-care right now?
When the world feels overwhelming, I think people naturally look for small ways to create moments of calm and beauty in their everyday lives. Flower arranging can be one of those moments.
There’s something powerful about stepping away from the constant stream of news, social media, and responsibilities and spending time creating something with your hands. Even if it’s just for 20 or 30 minutes, working with flowers invites you to slow down, focus on the present moment, and reconnect with a sense of creativity and peace.
Flowers also remind us of something really important; that nature continues to grow, bloom, and renew itself even during difficult times. Bringing flowers into your space can shift the energy in a room and serve as a small reminder that beauty still exists around us.
And in many cases, flower arranging becomes something you share with others. Whether you’re doing it with friends, coworkers, family members, or even strangers at an event, the act of creating together naturally opens the door for connection and conversation. In a world that can sometimes feel divided, those small moments of shared creativity can be incredibly meaningful.
Sometimes self-care isn’t about doing something big or dramatic. It’s about giving yourself permission to pause, breathe, and create something beautiful; even if it’s just a small bouquet on your kitchen table.
What are your favorite flowers and types of plants to work with? What do you love about them?
That answer has actually evolved since starting this company. As a little girl, I loved calla lilies. I was always drawn to their statuesque shape and how a single stem could stand alone in a vase and still command the entire room.
As I’ve gotten to know more flowers through this business, peonies have definitely become a new contender for my favorite. Most people are used to seeing them in their full, lush bloom, but what many don’t realize is that peonies start out as these tight little balls that bloom very quickly once they’re cut and placed in water. I love watching that transformation happen over the course of a few days. It’s almost like watching a time-lapse video of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly; each day the bloom opens a little more and becomes fuller and more dramatic. It’s such a joy to witness.
I’m also a big fan of green flowers. Green isn’t actually my favorite color, but I have a real appreciation for green flowers as a bit of an underdog in the floral world. There are so many beautiful shades, shapes and textures of green blooms, not just foliage, that can be used to create really stunning arrangements.
I love the element of surprise they bring and how they can make people see bold, green flowers in a completely different way.
As someone on a mission to change the way people think about flower arranging, what do you want folks to know about Postal Petals and how it’s about the experience of putting a bouquet together, not just the finished product?
One of the biggest things I hope people understand about Postal Petals is that the magic isn’t just in the arrangement you end up with, it’s in the process of creating it.
For so long, flowers have been treated as a ready-to-use, finished product. You buy them professionally pre-arranged, place them on a table, take a few pics for the Gram, admire them for a few days, and eventually throw them away. What we’re trying to do is shift that perspective and invite people into the creative process.
When you arrange flowers yourself, something really special happens. You slow down. You start noticing the colors, the textures, the shapes. You experiment a little, move stems around, and eventually something beautiful begins to take shape. That time spent creating becomes the real value of the experience.
One thing we often say is that we’re not just delivering flowers, we’re delivering a moment. A moment to unplug, engage your senses, and reconnect with your creativity. Whether someone is arranging flowers alone at their kitchen table or building a bouquet alongside others at one of our Bloom Bars, the experience creates space for calm, connection, and self-expression.
If people walk away from Postal Petals realizing that flowers can be more than decoration — that they can be a tool for creativity, mindfulness, and self-care — then we’ve done our job.
Find your floral arrangement or book a workshop with Talia by visiting the Post Petals website. You can follow Post Petals on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
Talia Boone. Image by Jasmine Wright