Business Is Blooming at MaBelle’s Garden

Mother-Daughter Venture Is Rooted in Beauty — and Love

Flowers from MaBelle's Garden | Photo: Courtesy

Eileen Cavanaugh of MaBelle’s Garden | Photo: Courtesy

“It’s like painting with flowers,” Eileen Cavanaugh said of her artistic approach to designing floral arrangements for MaBelle’s Garden, the Ojai-based business she owns and where she collaborates with her daughter Ruby Haber.

Cavanaugh’s interior design career, which has spanned more than 30 years, enhances her artist’s eye and pairs perfectly with her more practical background growing flowers with Haber for many years on her micro-flower farm, Palomar Farms in the Ojai Valley.

“We have the education of being flower farmers, we know when flowers grow and need to be harvested, so we design around seasonal flowers,” Haeber said. “This way, we can support farmers locally, and the blooms bring a vibrant impact.”

This mother-daughter team planted its roots in 2018, growing and arranging together in Ojai. After fires, mudslides, and the pandemic, they relocated to Connecticut in 2022. Cavanaugh jumped into another creative project of renovating a historical house and, of course, the garden as well. The name for their business stems from an ancient sugar maple tree that stands in the middle of the land that overlooks the gardens she planted. Cavanaugh lovingly called the sugar maple MaBelle.

Ruby Haber of MaBelle’s Garden | Photo: Courtesy

“The idea came to my mom to create a beautiful garden where she could source specialty florals from and apply her talent as a designer into weddings and events,” Haber said. “After many years of growing and arranging and relocating to help support my grandma, we were able to join forces back in Ojai.”

With MaBelle’s Garden, the two are able to source flowers primarily from local wholesalers, as well as their own gardens, which enhances the personality of each bouquet.

“Our style is unique because we are free, wild, and whimsical,” Haber said. “Floral design is an art, and we find creating with negative space illuminates our impact flowers or focal flowers. It’s a dance with balancing abundance and space to elevate our flowers and designs.”

The team delivers at all stops from Camarillo to Santa Ynez. For weddings and special events, they can stretch as far as San Luis Obispo or Malibu, all while bringing a newly harvested spirit.

“We are not your grocery store florist. We love to use what we love to grow ourselves and also to stay within the rhythm of the seasons,” Cavanaugh said. “I want people to feel as if these arrangements were freshly cut that day and arranged in a vase straight out of a garden.”

Flowers from MaBelle’s Garden | Photo: Courtesy

With an emphasis on incorporating seasonal blooms, the two channel a personal and intentional approach to their creations.

“We consider where it’s going, for who it is for, and where it will be placed,” Cavanaugh explained. “I love to channel my recipients if I know them. It begins with the vase and goes from there. Their personality dictates my choices.”

Their arrangements sing with color, seasonality, and vibrance, continually shifting with the season and event. Their online store is available for pickup or delivery, and they welcome opportunities to create for weddings, school events, or corporate events.

“We call ourselves ‘From Seed to Celebration,’” Cavanaugh said. “We arrange for all events that are celebrating life in all its cycles.”

For special holidays, they dream up an exclusive line of florals based on the time of year. I was able to experience the joy and intentionality behind their bouquets when I found a gorgeous vase outside my door after a hard week; it was brimming with pink roses (my favorite) and many more little beauties. I couldn’t name all their types, but I could certainly feel the love and energy this sweet mother-daughter team channeled into their work.

“My vision and inspiration behind MaBelle’s Garden is to empower women-owned, multigenerational, family businesses,” Haber said. “I’m inspired every day by flowers and my mom’s talent, and I look up to her as a mentor.”

See mabellesgarden.com for more information.