In the beginning:

After Leslie and Brandon Kirkland wed in 1996, an idea was planted as a seed that was meant to last for generations to come. Leslie Kirkland followed a childhood dream of starting her own flower shop. That is exactly what she did and The Enchanted Florist of Ashland was born. Her goal was simple, she wanted to create floral art. Leslie wanted to educate others on a different type of flower design, more natural in style. She was tired of the stereotypes that FTD and many florists gave floral design and wanted to change the world's idea of flowers and how flower arrangements are perceived.

Faith:

It was the second quarter of their sophomore year at the University of Southern Oregon, when Leslie approached Brandon and asked him to spend most of their financial aid money that they received from the government on roses. It was almost mce_markerand Leslie had the idea to spend their financial aid money on flowers to sell on the side of the road for Valentine's Day. Brandon was against the idea since the newly wedded couple were struggling with money as it was. Brandon finally gave in and said ok, but if she didn't make the money back, she'd be on the side of the road picking up cans. Brandon let her know that starting a business is for the wealthy and stable. The couple had been married for only 5 months now and was neither wealthy nor stable. They were living in a small, cramped apartment. The roses came and Brandon was reluctant to help out much. Sure, he loaded the tables and roses, but after that Leslie was on her own to set up and sell the roses by herself. The cold February air blew hard as rain came off and on, but through Leslie's perseverance and wind burn she was able to bring home a smile and empty flower buckets. Leslie tripled the financial aid money and rushed into their apartment, marched right up to Brandon with the money and proved that faith in a dream is worth risking everything. After that moment, Brandon supported his wife and started to educate himself about the floral industry and vowed he'd never doubt his wife's passion. He made a promise to himself that he would help his wife live her life long dream.

Weddings:

That next summer Leslie and Brandon did flowers for their first wedding. The summer after that they had two weddings, and the summer after that they did four weddings. By the time they graduated from the University 5 years later, they were doing 40 weddings out of their home. Along with the weddings, Leslie and Brandon stood in the rain through every Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day for the next 5 years. It was time to open their own retail flower shop.

The dream come true:

In February 2001, just 3 days before Valentine's Day, Leslie and Brandon opened their first retail flower shop. The inside color was a bright yellow that reached 15 feet high to their vaulted ceilings. Their floral cooler was designed to look like a florist they saw in Paris, named Fleur Natural. It had been six years of hard work and dedication since Leslie loaded up her little Geo Metro with roses to sell road side. Her dream and now her husband's, had finally come true. They have been in their shop for two years now and sales keep growing as word of mouth keeps spreading. A second store is being planned out in Medford and their online presence is growing. Leslie and Brandon have just had their first child, a little girl named Amlie. The Kirkland's story is proof that anyone can accomplish anything, no matter what. All the Kirkland's had was a dream, a passion to work hard and A $385 financial aid check. Anyone can do anything, no matter what.

*UPDATE* It's 2010, we never opened a shop in Medford due to the recession, but we moved our shop to a new bigger and visable location on the main street in 2009. We now have a son named Indie who will turn four soon and loves to sneak truffles when we're not looking. Amelie is now six and helps a lot at the shop when she's not running around chasing Indie with a mouth full of chocolate. It's been nine years in retail and after the move to the main street we were up 40%. Chocolate sales soar and flower designs keep getting better. Brandon just started his onw website business helping those in the floral industry have a better webiste www.epicflowers.com.

Mission Statement:

Offer one of a kind floral arrangements by using fun, rare and unique flowers as well as other mediums such as fruit, twigs, leaves, vegetables, pods and anything else to create the perfect arrangement. And even more important, show courtesy and respect to all people in and outside of our floral shop.