“It’s hard for me to explain my business to people who have never been here before,” Beuna Tomalino the owner of Basil and Rose said, “I hate to use the word boutique because men think of a boutique as a women’s store, but quite a few of my regular customers are men.”
Walking into Basil and Rose, I understood what Beuna was talking about. The eclectic store is packed with all the home and gardening supplies you could need or want while starting a garden. However, it is also full of natural skincare, artwork, greeting cards, books, food storage and more. Like Target, you’re sure to find yourself leaving the store with more things than you came in for. Unlike Target, almost everything you pick up at Basil and Rose comes from local Utah businesses.
And that doesn’t stop with the artwork or skincare, all of the seeds Beuna sales are native to Utah itself, including the Nature Seed packets she keeps stocked on the shelves.
With a degree in horticulture from Utah State, Beuna Tomalino started out in landscaping before she realized her real passion, teaching people how to garden. Starting Basil and Rose early last year in Bountiful, Utah, her number one goal was to create a space where she could utilize her passion.
Basil and Rose is more than just a store. Beuna also teaches classes in the backroom like, Grow A Healthy Lawn Organically, Grow Your Own Herb, Seed Starting, Creating and many more. Beuna isn’t the only one who teaches the classes, in fact, one of her most popular classes isn’t even on gardening, but sourdough bread making.
Even though Beuna’s main mission is to help teach people how to make their own food and gardens, Basil and Rose is not just for beginners. This beautiful shop is for anyone who is passionate about home and garden. Sometimes, gardening can be a lonely hobby. Basil and Rose is a place where the gardening community can gather and share tricks of the trade. We need more stores like Basil and Rose that are centered around creating a local community of gardeners.