Sharon Yantis’ eye for floral beauty was cultivated by years of entering and winning floral arranging competitions. Her talent eventually earned her the title of master flower judge.
There's nothing quite as special as a beautiful arrangement of flowers cut fresh from the garden.
It's something Sharon Yantis, a Portage, MI, floral expert understands very well.
"A fresh flower arrangement brings a spark of joy," Yantis says. "I think we need a lot of joy in our lives."
Yantis fills her home with flowers, and loves to share them with other people.
"It shows people you care," she says. "And I think it's a joy to give flowers to a hostess or to somebody in the hospital. There's a healing element to them. I think they have such an impact on people. You can see it in the smiles on their faces."
It was at her family's third-generation Ohio farmhouse that Yantis first fell in love with flowers.
Her father unwound in the family's garden after long days spent farming their 350 acres. Her mother grew zinnias, roses, larkspur, and sweet peas and cut them for arrangements indoors.
"A lot of my expertise was picked up from my mother," Yantis says. "She could take something that didn't look like much and make it beautiful. We didn't have a lot of money growing up, but our house was always filled with flowers."
After marrying and moving to western Michigan, Yantis began a formal study of flowers. She taught courses on floral arranging at community centers, and began a business composing floral arrangements for weddings and local churches.
She studied to become a flower show judge, and entered and won floral arranging competitions, eventually earning the title of master flower judge.
