Crystal Gardens Florist named Small Business of Year

The flowers in Crystal Gardens Florist in Poway can stand in their vases a little prouder, as the shop has been named the Small Business of 2016 for the 38th Senate District.

Jeannie Hume, owner of Crystal Gardens, said she was “dumbfounded” by the honor.

“I found out in late March, right as I was getting ready to go to Ohio and Wisconsin to look at colleges with my daughter,” she said.

Hume said she was so busy getting ready for the trip that she asked the representative from Senator Joel Anderson’s office to call her back another day and didn’t hear that she had received the honor.

A follow-up email after she returned from her trip let her know about winning. “I said, oh my gosh, you are kidding me,” said Hume.

Small businesses are nominated for the honor, and one in each district in the state is chosen. Hume had been nominated by the Poway Chamber of Commerce, she said.

“Through working with Dolores Canizales and the Poway Chamber of Commerce, I learned of Crystal Gardens Florist’s stellar reputation for providing beautiful floral arrangements, excellent customer service, and owner Jeannie Hume’s dedication to giving back to the Poway community. It’s my honor to select Crystal Gardens Florist as the 38th Senate District Small Business of the Year,” said Anderson in an email.

Hume said she got to surprise Chamber President Dolores Canizales, who hadn’t yet heard Hume had won.

Hume will travel to Sacramento on May 25 to be honored with the other 39 small business owners, where there will be a ceremony and a tour of the capitol. In order to receive the award, the small business owner must be able to travel to Sacramento and receive the honor in person. “How could I not go?” Hume said.

The award is given out by the California Small Business Association. Each of the 80 legislators in California is asked to choose a small business of the year from their district, often from nominations from local chambers of commerce and other similar organizations.

She will be accompanied by her husband, Chic and her daughter Julie, who is a senior at Poway High School. Her son, Christopher, will be unable to attend as he is away at college.

Hume will also be honored by the City of Poway at the May 17 council meeting. Hume isn’t exactly sure how the city plans to honor her, but said she hopes her family and members of the Chamber and the Poway Soroptimists, of which she is a long-time member, will be able to attend the meeting. “Hopefully, it will be a nice little showing of people,” she said.

Crystal Gardens opened in 1984 and has been providing the people of Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos and Scripps Ranch with flowers for 32 years. After several years working out of her parents’ shop, she moved the store to its current location at 13565 Poway Road in the Creekside Plaza shopping center almost 23 years ago.

Hume said that receiving the award after almost 30 years in business was “a nice culmination of one’s efforts.”

Crystal Gardens Florist is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It is closed on Sundays.

To place an order or find out more, call 858-486-4460 or visit crystalgardensflorist.com.