About Mercedes Ivener

I grew up gleefully amidst the gardens of my mother, grandmothers, and aunts. I was often the one furtively snipping a bloom or two to arrange in a vase. Bringing nature inside to inspect its beauty and displaying it in interesting ways was always part of my life. I saw how fresh flowers could transform a room and how a simple bouquet could deliver happiness. My childhood was spent wandering the mountainsides of Colorado, collecting wildflowers and “treasures” from the natural world. My room was full of projects in progress and the creative itch to make things was ever-present. Somewhere along the way, though, I took a detour from this way of living. Time passed and life happened. In college, I met my wild, wonderful husband Dolf, who is a 5th generation Siouxlander. We moved back to Iowa, I went to law school, we had two beautiful children, and we acquired a farm full of dogs, horses, cats, cows, and a sheep.  For almost 14 years I continued my career in law, primarily representing at-risk children in juvenile court here in Sioux City. It was meaningful work but it took a toll on me. To counteract this, I found myself in the garden, and my life began to fill up with creative projects again. Slowly, I found my way back to art and flowers. In 2014, I began my second career…the one I had always imagined for myself. I stepped back into floristry and opened Honeysuckle Hollow with the desire to create nature-inspired designs, lush with fragrance, and wild beauty. It has now been almost a decade spent amongst the flowers!  

About Honeysuckle Hollow

The name Honeysuckle Hollow came from our farm. When we moved onto our hilly, beautiful acreage years ago, I noticed that it was full of wild honeysuckle of all types. Because I always name everything after flowers, I called our place Honeysuckle Hollow. In spring, when the honeysuckle blooms, our air is perfumed and we find any excuse to sit outside for this brief and intensely delicious time. When I began this flower business, I wanted to conjure up this same sensory experience that nature provides so I named it after our farm. I thought it was the perfect name to explain our style. Our floral design is lush and alive with seasonal splendor and a little bit of untamed beauty. We love to source vibrantly fresh flowers from local farms and occasionally reach further out to the worldwide markets in search of unique and amazing blooms. We often add in a snippet of whimsy from our cutting garden, pasture or woods. The result is a one-of-a-kind creation to delight the senses!  

Our small, passionate design studio specializes in weddings and events while also providing workshops and offering our creations to the community for the four major flower holidays each year. Click here to learn more about the services we offer.

About Our Flower House

At Honeysuckle Hollow we do things a little differently. We make interesting and unusual creations and we don’t have a traditional retail shop. Instead, we have our Flower House. In the beginning, we operated out of an uninspiring strip mall space. I yearned for a quaint cottage for Honeysuckle Hollow where I could happily create and entertain clients, while also being a mom and cooking for my family amidst the bustle of business. Some people have a second home on a lake, but I needed a flower house. In November of 2017, we found the perfect place. It was built in the 1920’s, full of old-world charm and lovely details. It was badly in need of a face lift, so we spent the winter painstakingly picking out paint colors, refinishing the hardwood floors and furnishing the home to bring it back to life. 

Every day I arrive to work in this charming, inspiring house I feel happy.  The natural light, streaming in from all of its windows and its elegant dining room and huge porches make it so loveable. We call it the Flower House simply because that’s what it became…a second house where I could do flowers. We do not offer retail shopping here, but it is the headquarters for all things Honeysuckle Hollow. We love sharing its cozy charm with customers during workshops, style consultations for our event clients, and special dining experiences, so you can come enjoy the easy elegance of entertaining here that we have been enjoying ourselves for years! Walk by in the summer and check out our native gardens. They  are maintained by a local gardening group called The Wild Ones, aimed at bringing back native plants and increasing habitat for pollinators. We are so incredibly grateful to have the Flower House, and we hope you have a chance to visit it too! It’s part of the unique and special  experience of working with Honeysuckle Hollow!