Let’s Talk 10: Heather and Pedro Sardela
Illustration by Kiara Sanders
Durham-based flower virtuosos, Heather and Pedro Sardela, arrange December for us:
Have you been naughty or nice this year?
We are human, so probably a bit of both! But we are hopeful that we’ve created enough genuine smiles this year to maintain a positive karma balance.
What is the quality you most like in a romantic partner? Thoughtfulness. I, Heather, am so grateful for the consideration we give each other.
First thing you'd do if you saw an alien?
Heather: Space is not my thing. I would run and hide indefinitely.
Pedro: Ask if we could come with them! Sometimes we think of all of the friction filled areas of life (COVID, politics, climate change, etc), and get so overwhelmed that it feels easier to simply want to be somewhere else in an alien environment.
How many times a day do you look in the mirror?
Countless. When we’re building arrangements, mirrors can be wonderful assets in helping us find any gaps in our work, but also Heather is obsessed with mirrors and how they can open up a space, especially our tiny shop -- did you know our ceiling is actually mirror tiles as well?! It’s particularly fun to watch dogs and babies discover it.
Best gift you ever received?
Pedro: The best gift I ever received was a small terrarium with a barrel cactus from a person I was seeing at the time. It was a total surprise while I was at work. An incredibly thoughtful, and impromptu gift, which is something I wasn’t at all accustomed to in my life. It was also a bit tongue in cheek as I had previously compared my personality to that of a cactus. That lovely person ended up becoming my wife!
Heather: I am a horse girl, born and raised. When I was a kid, my dad had an accident riding one day and wouldn’t let me anywhere near them for six years; then one Christmas, he surprised me with a pony. I cried and cried--I don’t think I’ll ever forget that kind of joy.
What flower would have helped cover up President Biden’s stinky little accident with Camilla Parker Bowles?
Baronia! Geranium! Marigolds! But honestly, these probably would have just magnified the intensity of the smell at the moment--it’s too bad that there aren’t any flowers that make bull horn noises that could have covered the sound instead.
What's a recurring dream you have?
Heather: I don’t have a recurring dream, but I have a dreamworld I come back to time and time again that is some sort of Chicagoland island connected by a lot of freeways. I have all sorts of bizarre adventures there! Last night when I was there, I crashed a semi into a bridge.
Who'd you give a bouquet of Venus flytraps?
Each other (if they weren’t so --rightfully -- heavily protected)! Did you know of the 66 carnivorous plants that can be found in the US, 36 of them grown natively in NC? You can drive down to the coast and see them at either the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden, or the Green Swamp Preserve; they’re both outside of Wilmington.
What are you terrible at but love to do anyway?
Skeeball. We’d love to have our own machine, so we wouldn’t have to dump 50 cents per round of embarrassment, but it’s fun!
What's love?
Flowers!
Ummm, Smells Like Durham!
