Flora isn’t on General Hospital very often, but whenever the character does appear, some fans find themselves curious about the home shopping hostess. She might also look familiar to some ABC Daytime fans, as portrayer Susan Batten was previously best known for playing the role of Luna Moody on One Life to Live from 1991-95, and made subsequent appearances as Luna’s ghost in 1996, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2012. She also portrayed Connor Walsh on As the World Turns in 1997.
The actress made her first appearance on GH in the July 5, 2022, episode after reaching out to Frank Valentini, who was once the executive producer of OLTL and now serves as EP of GH. “I’ve been writing for a while, and during COVID, I think we all felt like we needed a little soul replenishment,” Batten told Soap Opera Digest back in 2022. “I told Frank, ‘I miss acting. I miss that whole energy of being part of a collaboration of actors, and I feel like I want to do that again. If anything comes up that you think might be fun for me to do, just let me know and I’ll do it.’ He called me and said, ‘Okay, there’s this character named Flora Gardens.’ I said, ‘Does she have teeth?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, “Okay, I’ll do it! And I just had a blast.”
Live Television
Flora Gardens was introduced as a surprise guest by host Haven De Havilland during a live broadcast on the Home & Heart shopping channel. Sasha Gilmore used Deception products to give Flora a makeover, and Haven urged Flora to return the favor by showing Sasha her new product line. Flora unveiled a new baby papoose and put it on Sasha, adding a doll to complete the demonstration. Sasha began hallucinating that she was actually carrying Liam, the baby she had lost, and Brando Corbin rushed onto the set to bring his wife back to reality. Sasha began having a breakdown on live television, and Lucy Coe shooed away the cameraman. Flora was horrified that Haven had set this up purposefully and insisted that she had no idea that Sasha had suffered such a loss. Feeling responsible, she also considered cutting ties with Home & Heart, which upset Haven, as Flora was their biggest seller.
In May 2023, Flora saw Sasha on set and apologized again for what had happened the previous year, wondering why they had been scheduled to work together again. Learning that the network was hoping another on-air breakdown would boost ratings, Flora refused to be a part of it. But Sasha wanted to prove herself. And when someone in production piped a crying baby through her earpiece, she was rattled, but pulled herself together and finished the segment. Backstage, Sasha’s friends, including Cody Bell, warned Haven never to pull a stunt like that ever again.
Friendly Advice
Flora was seen again in July 2025 when she tried to help Brook Lynn Quartermaine get more comfortable on camera and introduced a Deception segment during her Flora’s Garden show. Lucy brought in Lois Cerullo and told Flora they should let the mother and daughter sell their new product. After the segment, Flora happily announced that they’d sold out of Youth Truth and told Lois and Brook Lynn that they had great on-screen chemistry, hoping they’d come back soon. Later, Lois opened up to Flora about how she’d kept Brook Lynn’s son, Gio Palmieri, a secret from her. Flora assured her she had just tried to keep her family together the best way she knew how, and noted that the lie had actually started with her mother, Gloria. She declared that the bond between a mother and daughter is strong and promised that Brook Lynn would eventually come back to her.
A month later, Brook Lynn was back at Home & Heart, where Flora spoke with her about her fractured relationship with her mother. Flora impressed upon her how much Lois was suffering because of their split, and urged her to try to repair things. Flora joined Lucy and Maxie Jones for the Deception segment, and was shocked when, after demonstrating a new face mask, Maxie suddenly collapsed on air!