The CBD has another new business, although it has been in the CBD before.

Hanging Rock Flowers started a bricks-and-mortar life in the Star Court Arcade in 2020, just before COVID changed the way we live for two years.

"So, we'd been through COVID, and then my partner decided to have a heart attack and triple bypass a couple of months later," owner Linda Heilbron explained.

Hanging Rock then moved to the heritage building on Woodlark Street (corner of Molesworth Street).

"Woodlark Street was really pumping before the flood like we had The Golan and Miss Lizzies, the cafes and the retail shops. Woodlark Street and Molesworth Street were just pumping and the place to be.

"Then the big puddle hit and we all sort of tried to reopen and come back to where we were, but then the shops weren't opening. A lot of the retail shops had moved out. So, you didn't have foot traffic. We didn't have the foot traffic. We had the customer base, and we were keeping afloat; pardon the pun; it just wasn't working."

The next move was to Wollongbar, inside the Edible Garden cafe.

"It was a great space, but it just didn't work for us. We didn't have that constant foot traffic going past. We still had people coming out there, but it wasn't a great place for our flowers.

"So, we decided really quickly after Christmas that we needed to be back in the CBD. And the welcome that we've had this week from customers has been amazing. They haven't bagged us out about our confusing moves, they've just welcomed us back with open arms. We've not had one negative comment, which is incredible.

"And the other business owners in Keen Street, I'm good friends with Becca Curious Craft and Felicity at Scoops and Candy, and we've got Robert and Christine next door at Adornments. They're fantastic. And then we've got for Farid's bakery here, so you get through traffic, not to mention the sourdough smells that come through.

Linda was also excited to be in a building that has a lot of Lismore heritage.

For the last 50 years, Summerland Travel occupied the building. However, it was a cafe first.

"It was the first cafe in Lismore to have an espresso machine and sell espresso coffee. There's a plaque on the footpath,

"But our landlord, Nick Valpato, who is amazing, his dad, Floriano Volpato painted our back wall that. So, it's a painting of Portobello in Italy. He painted that from the back, so he painted it in reverse.

The picture works for a travel agent, and Linda wasn't sure if it would work for flowers when she first moved in. She has now changed her mind, loving the backlit artwork.

"I'll probably hang some drapes and greenery over there eventually, just to make it look like a bit of a 3D effect. But it's great having that there. It's a talking point and it's part of Lismore's history.

Quite a few business owners in Keen Street say it is the new Molesworth Street when that was the centre of shopping for the Lismore block.

"They put all the advertising and promotion into Keen Street, but I can see why. And if you can't beat them, join them. So, we're here to stay now."

One aspect that hasn't changed for Hanging Rock Flowers is that the product is grown on their own farm.

"Over our break, we'd be doing a lot of wholesaling to the Brisbane flower markets. But we like to keep things local. If we can't, we try and support other local farmers. But it's 90% from our farm."

Linda and her partner Paul have a farm at Wadeville, halfway between Nimbin and Kyogle.

"It's up in the foothills of the border ranges. It's beautiful. And that's where we grow everything. So, I bring the fresh flowers in every day, which is great.

"My partner works full time. He's the farmer and picker and grower. We've got a big, cool room at home that he picks for me during the day and puts it all in the cool room until I bring it in in the morning.

"It's just 24/7 working on a farm. Any farmer can say that. But as a flower farmer, it's not just paddocks of beautiful flowers and foliage. It's the maintenance. It's the mowing, it's the weeding, it's keeping the weeds down. It's the replanting. It's constant, constant work."

"I don't know if I could just work on the farm. I thought about just going back and working on the farm with Paul and doing what he does. I couldn't do it, even though I'm actually an introvert. But I love talking to people, and talking to people about what I love, which is the natives (flowers), and educating people about how to grow natives.

"We eventually want to have things like farm tours and talks, and we'll be selling plants of what we grow from seedlings, so we can tell people, okay, it's no use growing this type of thing. It won't work. It's a Western Australian variety. Try growing something that's a little bit more endemic to the area, and will go a little bit better.

"That's another part of it, as well, the education side of things. Not just selling people a bunch of flowers, it's telling them how it's grown and how to grow it. People would say, oh, I've got a protea, and it's not doing so well. What can I do about it? And we can tell them that. We can say, maybe try a different variety or maybe try growing it here, and don't bother growing this one; you're better off growing these other ones. It's really rewarding."

While part five of Linda and Paul's Hanging Rock Flowers is in the future, for now, get into the CBD, park on Keen Street, pop into 97 Keen Street (next to Camera House) and say g'day to Linda.