Hawk + Floret
Betty Baines Saum surprised the Frenchtown community by her optimism when she opened Hawk + Floret on June 17, 2020, during the height of the pandemic. Her unique shop is hard to pin down, since in it can be found everything from antiques and décor items for the home health and beauty products and fragrances and medicinal teas that Betty blends herself. She says, “When you walk in, you see that it is an emporium, of so many things—antiques, jewelry, upcycled products, plants, clothing—unusual things—things that I make. I have a personal relationship with everything that comes through this door. I mindfully curate everything that comes into Hawk + Floret.”
Hawk + Floret is named after her brother and her. “I experienced my brother as a hawk after he passed, and I was always a flower, so it just came to me: Hawk + Floret.” Betty, who received a degree in fine art, has a business, Flower Porn, arranging flowers for events and garden design, which came to a halt during the pandemic but now is blooming again. Wanting a retail store in Frenchtown, she opened Hawk + Floret to combine her love for nature, her creativity and a strong desire for community.
Betty’s ties to nature are evident in her foraging for wildflowers, her making of bark boxes from foraged materials for sets of health and wellness products that she makes from natural ingredients. At Hawk + Floret you can buy blended teas that boost your immune system or give you a sense of calm and inner peace, a facial steam made with flowers, fragrant oils, and bath products.
Conscious of the environment and concerned with building community she has offered workshops on foraging online and intends on expanding her workshops to taking people into woods teaching them to forage and make things. Her vision for Hawk + Floret includes healing workshops, bringing in healers and creative workshops. She wants to make a difference in a community she loves.
Hawk + Floret is located at 40 Bridge Street, Frenchtown, NJ. For more information, call 917-880-3504 and visit www.flowerporndesign.com. You can also see her on Instagram at hawkfloret and on Facebook at Flowerporn Hawk + Floret.