Floral Fantasy: Unveiling Bequita’s Blooms in Harlingen
Story by Nina Alegre
Edited by Abigail Vela
Anyone who has been to Harlingen enough knows that the coziest places to shop are the businesses along W Van Buren Ave. This wonderful strip is also in an accessible and walkable area, with two nearby parks: Lt. George Gutierrez Jr. Park and Centennial Park.
During Harlingen Art Night, which the city hosts every last Friday of the month, you can go for some coffee at Bandera, stop by to see what’s new in the art world at Clay Valley Studio or Cactus Valley before you head over to Jackson Street to buy everything from candles to jewelry!
In September 2024, a flower studio and boutique called Bequita’s Blooms & Botanicals, owned by Rebecca Rodriguez, aka ‘Bequita’ (she/her), moved into the block of businesses of W Van Buren. It’s been five months since Rodriguez opened the storefront of her dreams, and she says the community has been so supportive it melts her heart.
Owning Bequita’s Blooms has led Rodriguez to meet people all across the Rio Grande Valley, and some of her customers have become her friends.
Welcome to Bequita’s Charming Floral World
When you step into Bequita’s Blooms, you are transported to a delightful world of relaxing smells. Bequita’s red and pink roses are soft and inevitable to keep from touching. Soul music can be heard playing from Rodriguez’s selection. Sometimes, songs like “These Eyes” by the Canadian rock group The Guess Who or others will set the mood for the day. All this and more work to create an ambiance of heart-budding romance for newcomers and regulars of Bequita’s Blooms alike.
Rodriguez has dedicated the past four years to growing flowers, her business and her community. For the longest time, Rodriguez knew she wanted to have her own small business, but she didn’t know what it would be. So, Rodriguez spent her 20s trying to figure that out.
“I was living in Connecticut for a while, and that’s what really sparked [my] interest in flower farms. There was a bunch up there, and I would always go. That’s when I realized, okay, I need to move back home and start this,” Rodriguez shared.
Rodriguez’s journey, like many farmers’ journeys, wasn’t easy. She confessed, “I had a small farm shop on the farm. It was tiny. It was [a] 16 by 16 space. Moving here was harder than I had anticipated, but it was the right choice for me, and I love it.”
Flower farming is both difficult and tedious. It involves extensive planning to maintain soil health, provide irrigation and mitigate disease. But more than that, it’s hard physical work to ensure a flower blooms.
Rodriguez talked about what she has learned thus far: “It is hard. I’ve learned to accept that every seed that I plant—that I sow, isn’t always going to come up. It took a while to get comfortable or feel okay with that. ‘Cause you put a lot of work into growing these flowers, and then if they don’t come up, you just get really bummed. But I’ve learned to accept that that’s just the way nature is.”
Like many flower farmers in the country, Rodriguez works diligently to bring more than flowers in vases into the hands of her customers. While Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and other holidays are popular in the flower industry when flowers are in demand the most, we should strive to support local flower farmers and shops year-round.
Cultivating a Warm and Tender Space
Whether it is a full-time business or a side hustle, flower farming, like any other type of farming, has heavy demands that require time and energy. This can drain anyone who might not have the same passion that florists and gardeners in the RGV have.
Bequita’s Blooms cultivates a space for sustainable floristry. It is also a boutique where you can find a flower bar, plants, self-care products, and gifts to give, like chocolate bars or bath soaks. Community members visiting the shop are encouraged to turn to wellness and boost their mental health through self-love and compassion.
We invite you to experience Bequita’s Blooms for yourself. Once you step into Bequita’s, you’ll see how the space feels warm and tender, like a big hug.
“I want my shop to feel like a warm cup of tea. A place where you can slow down, smell the flowers, skim through a book, grab a plant for yourself, […] or pick out a card that reminds you of a friend,” Rodriguez said.
Other flower farms and markets in the RGV worth supporting are WildAugust in Harlingen, Southern Roots in McAllen and Mission and Clavel Flower Shop in San Juan.
Don’t wait until tomorrow. Give someone their flowers today!
