Joseph Valey, owner of Flowers by Joseph has a very interesting history in the floral business. 

Joseph has worked for some pretty special people in his career, designing for the Golden Globes while living in Beverly Hills and providing flowers for Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, party flowers for Mel Gibson's, Braveheart Party and Don Henley's Wedding.  But, his favorite group of people to provide flowers for is military families. 

When Joseph Varley owned a flower shop near Camp Pendleton in Southern California years ago, one of his favorite (and secret) joys was helping out fellow veterans.

At the height of the Gulf War, service members would visit his shop before they were deployed, give him a crumpled $20 bill and ask that he send an arrangement to their spouses. 

Instead of fulfilling their order straight away, Varley would stretch the $20 over several months — sending a single rose and a note not only on anniversaries, but on random days of the week, so that the spouse might get a surprise from their loved one at any given time.

“I would write just these crazy, little notes: ‘I miss you’ or ‘I’m thinking of you,’” Varley, now 79, recalled. “I wanted the wives to know they were thought of. I probably got over 150 letters over the years from guys telling me I have no idea how much this meant to their wife.

Flower By Joseph owner is pictured above with retired Captain James Smith. Together they worked on starting a nonprofit Troops Frequent Flowers Program to provide low-cost flower arrangements for loved ones while troops are deployed. 

“There is such a big impact of a card just saying something as simple as ‘I’m thinking about you’ to let a troop’s family know they are thought of,” Smith said. “I am so proud to have developed this company with Joseph as a way to serve our troops and their families and make a difference.”

Varley now runs Flowers by Joseph on 1603 Olympic Highway North in Shelton, WA and has been in the flower design business off and on for nearly 60 years.

His love for flowers comes from his mother, who was a buyer for a major department store in Pennsylvania, where Varley grew up.

“She picked it up on her own and always made these beautiful arrangements for people,” he said. 

Varley himself entered the U.S. Navy in 1956, where he served for nearly a decade in a seaplane squadron.

By the time Operation Desert Storm hit in the 1990s, Varley owned Flowers by Joseph, a small flower shed in Oceanside, California, where he worked with his mother.

“My uncle was a master sergeant at Camp Pendleton, and we moved there because my father wanted to see his brother,” he said. “It was a hole in the wall surrounded by bars on both sides. These military kids came in with ripped up $20 bills, when $20 was actually worth something.”

While Varley offers a frequent flowers program for all of his customer through his business, his nonprofit has specifically priced its flower arrangements at a lower cost for service members.

Joseph welcomes you to all him and discuss your floral order at anytime.  He guarantees it will always be unique and special!