JOHNSTOWN INDEPENDENT
Sunday July 19, 2015 3:55 PM
Maria Rogers said since she was 15 years old her dream has been to open a flower shop.
June 1, her dream came true when she and co-owner Laney Shull opened The Crafty Garden in Johnstown at 28 S. Main St.
Rogers said she’s been in the floral industry for more than 20 years and has worked in several local florist shops.
For a brief time in her life she went into the medical field, but said she wasn’t happy there.
In October, she moved back to Johnstown where she met up with a friend.
Rogers told the friend about her dream and the friend informed her that Shull shared her flower shop dream.
The women got together, realized they both graduated from Johnstown-Monroe High School, and within 30 days they had a plan to open The Crafty Garden.
Rogers said she is the lead designer and handles the flower side of the business. She said Shull is crafty and helps with that side.
Rogers said business has been steady and is becoming busier every day.
“We’ve booked a few weddings, did Little Miss Firecracker, and are seeing more walk-ins as word of mouth travels around town,” she said.
“Everyone knows I’ve been doing this my whole life and so they are excited about the business.”
The company specializes in weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, funerals, parties and deliveries in Licking and Franklin county as well as same day deliveries for orders placed by 1 p.m.
“People are excited to have a florist back in town,” Rogers said.
“I’m blessed to have the opportunity to provide this local service,” she said.
In addition to floral arrangements, The Crafty Garden also offers home decorating services and sells custom silk arrangements, terrariums, owl figurines, potted plants, air plants and wind chimes.
“We have a unique show of flowers and plants that are new to the community,” Rogers said.
“We want to try to bring high style to Johnstown, so we are aiming for a more exotic look, by using more than just carnations, roses and baby’s breath.”
She said The Crafty Garden specializes in fragrant and tropical flowers such as orchids, bird of paradise, calla lilies, stargazer lilies and hydrangeas.
“I like for floral arrangements to fill up your whole house with the smell of the flowers,” Rogers said.
“Nowadays, some flowers are so chemically altered that they’ve lost their scent.”
The company uses a local wholesaler from Columbus and is working with a Johnstown wholesaler to possibly do business with them in the future.
Even as a young company, Rogers said the business has donated to Relay For Life and is working hard to use other local businesses, such as Digital Impressions, for business cards and stamps.
“We want to support other local businesses in our community,” Rogers said.
Debbie Gillum Wakefield 