Cedar Creek Farmhouse
Blossoming business celebrates life with exotic plants
By Cynthia Reeves / Photos by Kate Treick Photography
Cedar Creek Farmhouse started after Crystal Taylor’s “Mema” passed away in the winter of 2017.
“We were really close,” Taylor explained. “After her celebration of life, we all took something from her home that meant something to us. I took a well-cared succulent that had obviously been loved by her for a long time.”
When she missed her grandmother, Taylor would pull off a leaf and replant it, reminding her that life is a part of a beautiful cycle.
“That little plant helped me through a difficult time,” she said.
Mavis Jean “Mema” Golloher taught her loved ones that “nature is an amazing thing to behold and sometimes, if a person is lucky, they get to be a part of its process.” She considered each mother plant a “hen” and the cuttings “chicks” to be cared for. It was like magic to five-year-old Taylor.
As a result of the joy her grandmother’s plant brought her, Taylor started collecting succulents as well. Soon a tiny windowsill collection grew into a massive curation of succulents from all over the world.
“At that stage, I thought it would be good to start sharing the joy they brought to me with others,” she said.
Beginning the first day with just seventeen plants, Taylor started shipping some of her prized succulents to family and friends and exchanging rare hybrids with other collectors.
“It was cathartic. I wanted to share that feeling with people going through something trying in their lives.”
That is how Cedar Creek Farmhouse, which is now both an online business and a gift shop in Navarre, was born.
Taylor now ships 85 to 100 exotic succulents a day all over the U.S., even to Alaska and Hawaii. The plants are so in demand that when she posts each plant on her website on Saturdays, they are usually sold within a minute.
The plants have exotic names like Echeveria Anna Variegated Cluster or Echeveria Red Tan Cristata.
“I look for erratic growth patterns, strange mutations in the genes. Crazy stuff!” Taylor said.
The physical store opened on November 2, 2024, on the property of another family-owned business, Panhandle Palm & Rock Nursery in Navarre. The colors and textures of the plants that line the shelves of the shop are like eye candy — calming and comforting to the soul. For example, a soft brown colored plant with a fuzzy texture is called a Teddy Bear. A Variegated Triple has three clusters or heads in soft tones of red, yellow and green.
The plants are surrounded by unique gifts Taylor brings in from small-batch artisans mostly from the U.S. There are unique minerals, soaps, cards and jewelry. The collection includes hand-rolled incense, Mod Sprout high-quality shears, Nash Jones pottery and Olivine perfume from Seattle. Each bottle is handmade. Whimsical animal and wildlife paintings by Austin artist Eli Halpin add to the natural theme.
Taylor also sells old-fashioned lavender sachets like her Mema handmade, so it seems that in every corner, her grandmother is still very much alive, sharing her knowledge and love for nature and plants.
Want to go?
What: Cedar Creek Farmhouse at Panhandle Palm & Rock
Where: 1801 Presidio Street, Navarre
When: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (winter) and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (beginning in the spring); Saturday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Info: 1-833-772-3327; cedarcreekfarmhouse.com
