We specialize in houseplants, succulents, pots, fruit trees, decor and garden accessories. I was a beautiful plant shop in Temecula, CA which opened in 2021. Karinna is a local mother (of a son and twin daughters all educated in the Temecula Valley Unified School District) and business woman who opened this space as a plant boutique during the Pandemic. Her businesses prior to mid-2020 were global
and they got shut down in early 2020 when countries with which she did the most business were on complete lockdown (down under). As Karinna enjoyed brunch with her sister, Karimé, at 1909, socially distanced on the outdoor patio one day in early 2021, a sign caught her eye across the street! She was feeling great that day; Karinna was very confident about her ability to accomplish anything she set her mind to! With a bit of help from her loving friend named Leigh Steinberg, (the most famous sports agent who coined the phrase "Show Me the Money!" and who's likeness was portrayed by Tom Cruise, who had just recently negotiated and signed a half a $Billion dollar deal for Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid from the Kansas City Chiefs), Karinna called the number on the sign and put in a deposit! "It's YOURS," the nice lady said! Karinna never doubted the fact that the contract was very short, just a few words and a signature line, but a contract nonetheless. All the other tenants around her had signed the same contract with the same lady who was very well known in the area. She spent all night that first night celebrating with a helpful and sweet long-time friend, Melissa (an unstoppable fierce Leo friend who was always successful in retail); they painted the black walls and (hmm) black ceiling pure white, they picked out shelves, and they wondered why they didn't get access to a locked back closet door. But this was the future KARINNA'S SECRET GARDEN! A month earlier, I was first conceived over at Vail Headquarters in the Temecula Parkway & Redhawk Parkway historical site inside of an adorable and amazing little shop called Supermix Mercantile! Three little tiny walls -- just filled to the brim with plants! That was my first month of life! I had a small A-Frame sign with art from Melissa's artist friend. Karinna always had many friends who offered to help in many ways! April 2021 was my big break into the world of retail, and by May 1st, I had transformed. As I waited in the "nursery" of my retail life under consignment with Gina, owner of Supermix, Karinna and her friend Melissa were preparing my new shell. On her own, with her little Toyota Highlander, Karinna moved every single plant from Supermix at Vail Headquarters, over to the new shop a few miles away, and, trip by trip by hand-drilled shelf, her Pinterest dreams materialized! Roger's Gardens vibes in Temecula? I was bigger and I even had the opportunity to expand out into the courtyard, which had a nice little hose and outdoor faucet! Lots of plant cousins who were rooted into that historic ground looked on motionless and silent. Later, the cute building with the white French glass door would hold my name proudly on a sign which was made by hand and donated by the family of my first volunteer helper! Every day was magical for me, and for Karinna. As little kids walked by, Karinna couldn't help herself -- she would give away all the 1 inch tiny succulents. Actually, she would welcome them to the magical courtyard and say, "here you go! You get to pick one," with a softer voice than usual, and she would start conversations with the moms who loved everything but were just passing by most times. See, my courtyard inspired curiosity, but not necessarily "shopping." Karinna was at her happiest at Karinna's Secret Garden, it was a sanctuary. It was a retail shop which she had never launched from scratch before. It was a home away from home where her inspirations came to life. With all of the information she had learned about indoor plants during one of the worst pandemics of modern time, she was able to share tips, hacks, and a wondrous appreciation for LIFE. A secret garden sanctuary where each person could create their very own secret garden and multiply it in their home... just as plants grow and grow. The energy began to catch on and grow inside each person she was able to speak to and engage with . Well, the next year and a half were lovely, season after season, Karinna created new events, markets of the community, succulent cuttings classes, pumpkin planter workshops, seasonal gatherings, music on the weekends, and the list goes on. She was just so hidden, that business never did more than merely pay for inventory. I was costing her more than she was generating. Soon, she established, produced, and executed the Secret Garden Comedy Show with her new friend Gabrielle Vargas, a successful comic who loved the idea of an outdoor comedy show! Gabby was vibrant, energetic, funny, caring, and soon became like a sister to Karinna. Their first comedy show was in the Karinna's Secret Garden Courtyard! They used minimal materials, chairs found in the storage shed, and $11 Home Depot shop lights to create a glowing look of uplights shining up the historic jail stone which served as a backdrop for the stage. The night was a huge success. The FIRST comedy show in town for years. September 2021 -- the birth of a series of successful Secret Garden Comedy Shows which expanded from my courtyard, to almost every single restaurant venue along Old Town Front Street and eventually out into the wineries and then out into Murrieta as well! The final shows in 2023 had reached Huntington Beach! There was my baby, "Karinna's Secret Garden Comedy Show" on the marquee at Be Good Restaurant and Experience in Huntington Beach just steps away from the pier. Back to the boutique--I received only 5 star glowing reviews and the beautiful words my customers wrote about me made me so happy! Fast forward a year and a half later -- I started to realize that something was wrong. City officials came over often, sheriff deputies would walk through looking for something, drunk people from next door would come over to urinate in public, do sexual things in the corners, and vomit on walls and some of my outdoor plants. I never had a break-in, but I overheard someone say maybe it was something internal. Roaches infested the area at night, Karinna kept them away, she sprayed heavily around the outskirts and they never came near me, but something was bad, scary shadows crept around at night. I didn't know what cancer was. But there was definitely something dark growing there. Oddly, Karinna's Landlord stopped showing up. She always carried a gun inside a zipped fanny pack, she had a tiny baby who was a preemie, and was addicted to heroin and she was called a "foster" baby. Again, as a very young little plant shop, I didn't know what this meant. Was I a foster baby too??? Months later, after bullying from neighboring tenants, some broken glass, some threats of violence, Karinna stopped seeing her landlord come around. The last time she saw Karinna, she said, "you know what, keep this months rent, and you can have the back closet now (the one that was locked). The landlord opened up a room inside me, and began taking away many many things that belonged to her from inside and loading them into a large truck. It almost looked like someone could've lived back there! Things seemed too good to be true, Karinna even got some free vintage items like a desk, an old table, baskets, and retail store items. But within a week, on a day that her dear friend Jennifer, the amazing luxury realtor of La Cresta, was helping her by working at the shop, so that Karinna could attempt to restart her old business at the Expo West trade show in Anaheim, a new man came into the courtyard and handed Jennifer some papers. As Karinna drove home, and after she had left this great energetic trade show, Jennifer called. "Honey, I didn't want to tell you this earlier while you were working, but Joe Russo came by with an Eviction Letter."
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-.NO.. Karinna didn't crash. Karinna drove home dejected with pain and tears in her eyes. Jennifer and her sweet daughter, Availina had found the TUMOR. The cancer had metastasized. Even worse, it was almost like I WAS a foster baby. The lady who owned me, didn't really own me. She was an imposter. She was taking Karinna's money, but not paying the real owner. Even this is not for certain! All I know is that my life was in the hands now, of a man and an old woman owner who lived in Coronado, CA, and never came to visit her beautiful place, with a little mall of stores, a historic courtyard with the disrepaired gates, uprooted brick floor, cobwebs, black widows, addicts and gangsters everywhere, and leaky roofs. Months later, after a battle, as Karinna fought for me, I started to lose vital life. I couldn't pay for an attorney with the revenue I was generating! This strange lady who didn't have a lease signed with Karinna... how could the court allow her to file an eviction? Karinna lost hope. She tried. She was slandered, defamed, she was called a drug dealer, she was almost killed by drunks one night which was caught on camera, the local deputy who sent every girl in town pictures of his private parts, even laughed at Karinna for calling him when these men backed her up into the shop! Some things were definitely not right. Cancer was killing all of the roots and leaves inside of me. Once she realized she couldn't save me, broke from trying, she had to pull the plug. It was the hardest thing she had ever had to do but if she had not, the cancer would have spread to her. It almost did! She was sexually assaulted by a motorcycle gang, she was called names, she was called a drug dealer, and the large lady with a lot of skin always showing and a short son in an orange shirt who smoked like a chimney said I was a "brothel" although I was too young to know what that was! Thankfully, Karinna's friends Kurt and Carmen who owned a restaurant nearby told her right away. Still. Doubt can be a cancer as well. I didn't make it. Karinna has my sign at her beautiful new home. Like a great mother, she'll never forget me. But she's grateful she tried and she gave the community so much to enjoy!
