Salt Lake City’s “Little Gay Garden” grows stunning blooms

Salt Lake City, Utah – Proms, graduations, and weddings take place throughout the spring and summer, and they all usually involve flowers.

One local flower farmer is passionate about creating stunning pieces of living art and is also a proud member of Utah’s LGBTQ+ community.

Little Gay Garden in Rose Park is owned by June Hiatt, who wants people to know that there are local options available to them for flowers for any occasion.

Although it started off as a pastime, her business really took off during the pandemic.

Hiatt is a young Millcreek native who is bringing life to the Utah desert on a quarter-acre area in the heart of Rose Park.

According to Hiatt, she has always loved gardening and creating flowers and arrangements for friends. A few years ago, after much consideration and preparation, she made the decision to pursue it as a career.

“I had to make sure that I was ready to commodify my hobby and take something I love and turn it into something that was going to support myself and pay the bills,” she explained.

Twenty to thirty Utah producers, including Hiatt, she says, bring their fresh-cut flowers to a clearing house in Murray once a week so that florists may come and purchase locally grown flowers.

“Part of what pushed me into this scale was the reality that Utah has a huge flower market,” Hiatt reflected. “We have a lot of weddings and events, the demand for flowers is there.”

Local growers continue to face challenges despite the positive state of the Utah flower industry.

“Flowers are a global product,” Hiatt said. “You go to Trader Joe’s, you buy flowers – they’re coming from Ecuador, South America. We have people who are growing flowers, right here in our literal backyards, in our communities and trying to localize a very global industry.”

Particularly during delight month, Hiatt takes great delight in her labor and the moniker “Little Gay Garden,” which she gave to her business.

“In the state of Utah, where things are a little tough for the queer community, it’s making it very apparent that I’m here to provide flowers and support community events with flowers and blooms all year long,” she explained. “I just didn’t really want there to be a question about where my values are.”

Hiatt thinks that purchasing flowers from Trader Joe’s or other large florists is perfectly acceptable. However, she notes that more and more customers are expressing a want to support locals like her, and she wants to make sure that she is available to meet that demand.