How The Stemmery Flowers & Antiques in Hollister Brings Women Together

When Laney Vivo moved to Hollister, she didn’t know anyone in the small town, but she knew she wanted to open up a flower boutique where she could use her unique talents and share her passion for organic and garden-style floral arrangements. The Stemmery Flowers & Antiques (2045 S. Bus Hwy 65 Unit B, Hollister, Missouri) opened to the public on November 17, 2022, and what has followed has been a dream come true for Vivo. “When I opened the flower shop, I didn’t realize how powerful the support of a community could be,” says Vivo. “It didn’t take long to feel welcomed into the community here.”

Today, The Stemmery is much more than just a flower shop, offering customers curated houseplants, a selection of antiques, candles, garden accessories, journals, sweets and local art.

Vivo’s floral arrangements, however, remain at the core of her bustling business. “I curate a lot of my product through Missouri Flower Exchange and other local growers,” says Vivo. “My designs have a vibe of a vintage garden.” When designing, her goal is to create something unique and one-of-a-kind each time. Fall is a favorite time of year for arrangements. “I use a lot of different types of grasses, pampas blooms and terracotta color florals during this time of year,” says Vivo.

The Stemmery also offers events throughout the year. One of the most popular is their terrarium workshop. It gives guided instruction on the care of different types of plants and teaches how to create a space for them in a glass container. Workshops include a glass container, your choice of up to three plants, potting mix, moss, several decorative elements and care instructions. “The terrarium workshop is set up as a terrarium bar with all the items needed to be creative,” says Vivo. Guests can attend one of The Stemmery’s scheduled workshops, or guests can plan their own private event. Recently, The Stemmery created an outdoor private terrarium bar as part of a bridal shower.

Guests snacked on locally made charcuterie boards and cookies while designing their own unique keepsakes.

For the Autumn Terrarium workshop, Vivo is hosting a group of women in her community. One of her passions is bringing women together. “I am a strong believer in strength in numbers,” says Vivo. “I love being able to offer a peaceful boutique-like environment for women to gather and explore their creativity.” Vivo enjoys offering a large lineup of creative workshops to the Hollister and Branson community, including floral design (luxury vase arrangement and luxury hand-tied bouquets), kokedama (moss ball plants), open and closed terrarium, semi-hydroponic planting, the art of flower pressing and floral painting. There are ladies’ night out events and open houses.

Soon The Stemmery and Vivo will get some extra help at the shop as Vivo’s daughter Emalee Louise joins the team. “My vision when opening The Stemmery was to eventually run the shop with her, not just as a mother/daughter business but also as a friend and business partner,” says Vivo. Now that Emalee Louise has moved here, Vivo can work and create alongside her—changing her business’s “I” to “we.”