The flower business is in my blood. I was born and raised surrounded by buckets, bows, flowers and fridges... and my father, who was the biggest influence in my life. He wanted to pass along to his first born daughter all the knowledge he had cultivated in his lifetime of working in a flower shop. He, too, was born into the flower biz; his father had started the legacy in 1938 with his wife, my grandma.

This photo was taken in my home town of London, Ontario around 1938 when they first started out.  Across the street from where this first location existed, my grandparents built a house at 1 Cathcart St, and attached to the house they had a flower shop, which is still run by my father to this day.

I don't live and work with my dad anymore, family relationships can often complicate working relationships, as anyone who has worked in a family business knows all too well. I have managed Poppies in Victoria for the past 15 years with my step-mom, Mary-Jane. MJ also worked in that store on the corner of Bruce and Cathcart Streets for almost 30 years.  Once the flower business gets in your blood, it seems to stick.