AFTER being in the industry for almost half a century, Ronnie Oehme of Ronnie's Flower Shop will be putting together her last bouquet on Christmas Eve.
Having owned and operated her Cardiff store for 37 years, Ms Oehme has seen the area change as she built her "family business".
"There's a lot less banks out here and the supermarket is much bigger," she said.
"I've now got five kids and 18 grandkids. A lot of them still help out with the store and doing deliveries."
Ms Oehme first got into floristry because she was "broke with five kids to feed" after "losing everything in the Townsville cyclone of 71'".
"I came back to Newcastle and the girl next door who worked at Cardiff florist was looking for a driver," Ms Oehme said.
"Three weeks later the owner, who was Latvian, started teaching me. That was December and in January she went on holidays and I started managing."
Even though the business has changed and COVID had seen the closure of many growers and florists, Ms Oehme said after starting, she "never looked back".
"I opened the shop with just a telephone and a cash register and there has definitely been some hard periods."
Ms Oehme may have adapted to the times, mostly dealing in online deliveries now, but she says the value of an old-fashioned, personal florist can't be understated.
"It's about being able to come in, see what you're buying and getting advice," she said.
"It's also about quality. A lot of people come to me complaining they bought something online and it only lasted a couple of days. What do you expect."
The store still gets most of its flowers from Sandgate with, the natives being delivered from a grower in Macksville.
"People come here because they are getting three of four weeks out of their roses. Of course they are, because I won't buy rubbish."
Ms Oehme saidthis quality, care and family value will continue under new owner, her ex daughter-in-law, Dianne Evans.
