10/26/2026
A long post but something i think is worth your time....
Some pieces that mama created this weekend with a farming/rustic feel for a funeral and the last couple are a one of a kind unique "woodsy" Church arrangement using a client's bowl and stump as inspiration.
You have to see the casket spray from several angles to see all that is in it....soybeans, corn shucks, cotton.... Bamboo, cedar, pine I cut from my farm for her to use and a couple hats as unique focal points
Farming and rustic theme carried out through all the pieces with rustic crosses, some John Deere ribbon and props (he loved John Deere).
For some reason... i guess because I have been thinking about Mary joyce's Florist 24th anniversary next month.... and her little corner of West Ogeechee and Maple Street. A milestone many businesses never get to experience.
The talent/gift of a true floral Designer is a calling placed on your life and is always ever evolving based on the customer and things that inspire them or things they bring in.
God gave/shown mama her gift (talent) of floral design in 1981 when her mother died and there were so many flowers they had to line the isles of her Church with pieces....to be noted too her Aunt Thelma Conner was once a florist as well....Mama couldn't help but hear the "call"....enrolled in John Hall floral school and soon after she opened her first florist in Springfield in the early 80s called Country Bouquet. After she closed her first florist for decades she spent working and learning under other florist owners...in Hilton Head (at Sea Pines) where she commuted from Shawnee to HH every day (2hrs one way) before there was even an exit on 95 for Hilton Head. It is while she was working in Hilton Head that she started venturing out under the tutelage of her boss and began competing in floral competitions in South Carolina.
Mama has and continues to use her gift pretty much as a ministry to be there for others, give them joy even when they are at some of their darkest points, and if you have ever spent time in the shop you know its also a place where customers (always treated like family) can come in, visit, and share stories/memories anytime.
Mama even though she never mentions it (beginning in the late 80s through the mid 2000s) has been a national award winning floral Designer. I often thought of hanging her numerous awards and displaying them in her shop. . She won countless awards for her unique vision in numerous interpretive design competitions (you are given a theme and any limitations they place) and you build/create/design your creation and have it judged. I can do a post one day and share some of her winning designs if readers would like to see it. We would spend weekends at my Uncle Cliffords....her home place....(now my farm/home) designing her props and creations for her competitions. Uncle Clifford was a creative and unique soul in many ways too.
Mama also serveded on many national floral boards such as Telefloral Design Board. She also designed/taught, hosted, organized and created numerous floral design shows and has taught demonstrations across the country for wholesale companies showing florists different ways to use and create with products from the wholesaler, design and teaching demonstrations on the National, State and local level...such as for Garden Clubs, and several annual Farm Bureau conventions for the ladies to attend while their husbands were in seminars.... and tagging along on her coat tails was yours truly... so I guess you could say I have been in the floral industry as long as mama and I am proud to say a lot of her gift and talent was passed down to me.
When FFA included Floral Design in their program and competitions the FFA director in Effingham took some of mamas floral design classes she taught for over a decade for Ogeechee Tech continuing Ed program... creating the curriculum herself... and working together mama helped mentor the FFA program and designers the first year the FFA competition was held at the State Fair in Perry....even attending the competition to offer support for the students she and the FFA director helped mentor/guide.
Mama also has helped mentor some students from Screven County FFA through out the years who were interested in competing in Floral Design at the State FFA level.
During her competing years mama also won Teleflora Georgia State Desihner competition....Becoming the State Floral Designer. She flew to Los Angeles to compete against all other state winners for Teleflora National Designer of the Year... she placed 12th in the Nation....not too shabby for a girl from/raised in the Poor Robin Community in Screven County. Im also so proud that my mama, at 81, is still doing her passion full time and loves everyday she goes to work.... she has no plans to slow down or retire and now that I am back in the county I am blessed to get to collaborate on designs and projects combining our talents adding even an additional element to her designs and creations.
