This story begins in 2014 when Castle High School student Jesse Meyer took an after-school job at a landscaping and garden center. At the time, it never occurred to the 15-year-old that she was stepping into a world she’d enjoy so much that she never left.
Outside of her full-time hours as an assistant manager at Colonial Classics, Meyer, now 24, preserves flowers for Jesse Jeanne’s, her side business.
“I grow flowers during the day and preserve them at night,” she says.
While taking a break in 2019 from classes at the University of Southern Indiana, Meyer decided to move her interest in floral displays to a new level by honing her methods of drying and pressing flowers.
“I was growing the flowers, and I love flowers, but there’s a way to make them last forever,” she says.
In 2021, she moved toward a more dramatic medium: resin. Suspending three-dimensional blooms in a clear liquid epoxy that dries hard in a pre- cise shape, such as a heart or orb, is an artisan skill. It requires patience and experience as well as a creative eye.
After posting her hobby’s results on social media, someone inquired about commissioning a wedding bouquet.
“She was taking a big leap of faith in me. She knew it was my first one,” Meyer shares. Word of mouth spread. More customers grasped at the chance to memorialize milestone occasions using fresh flowers from weddings, funerals, graduations, and engagements.
While the fresher the flowers, the better, “There’s nothing better than getting older flowers and be able to create something that’s just so beautifully spectacular,” she says.
Meyer is committed to exclusively serving local customers, and her work can be purchased online only on Facebook and Instagram.
