New Paltz resident Lynda Saylor strolls The Flower Kart along the sidewalk, pausing for some time on the corner of Plattekill Avenue and Main Street to speak with customers.
Saylor, 45, said she opened the cart in August as an additional source of income when the Hudson Valley Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center -— where she had worked as a nurse for 12 years — began to cut back on overtime.
“I’ve been wanting to do something involved with plants and flowers for a long time,” Saylor said. “My co-workers kind of teased me about this for years.”
Saylor, a single mother, said she considered getting an additional nursing job, but her passion for flowers convinced her otherwise.
“I do make some income,” Saylor said. “But it’s really more about the experience.”
Saylor’s daughter, Trisha, 17, sometimes helps her transport the cart into town, and Saylor’s ex-husband, Michael Saylor, 43, built the cart for her over the summer.
“He built it and I painted it,” Saylor said. “But before I let him build it, I wanted to make sure I could get my permit.”
Saylor said she spoke to businesses in town to find out their thoughts on the potential flower cart. For the most part, she said businesses did not mind.
“When I actually went to the town hall they were very accommodating,” Saylor said. “I think it took two weeks for them to okay it.”
Saylor said she has permission to roll the cart around town, but she usually stays in the sidewalk area outside of Starbucks.
“Sometimes I stroll down to Snugs,” she said, “but people usually end up just coming to me.”
Saylor said she usually has an assortment of 100 roses, some sunflowers and about 20 bouquets made of gerbera daisies and big mums.
“I like my flowers to be shocking,” Saylor said. “and I usually have some sort of cooking herb in a bundle to use for a meal.”
Most of the flowers and arrangements, which cost $3 to $25, come from Alders, a flower wholesaler, and the smaller bouquet flowers are grown in her home garden, Saylor said.
Saylor said she will try to have her flower cart available until the end of October. She usually brings it into town Thursday and Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday during the day, weather permitting. She also said she hopes to get her cart back out for Valentine’s Day.
“I really do enjoy it,” Saylor said. “My co-workers always say that it fits my personality to go up and down the streets with a little flower cart.”