Viewers' Choice For MN's Best Flower Shop

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Mother's Day is almost here.

And that means a lot of us will be sending flowers to the women who mean the most to us.

WCCO viewers' choice for Minnesota's best flower shop is Martha's Gardens.

Tucked away in St. Paul's Merriam Park is a busy little flower shop capable of producing some very big work.

Martha Gabler Lunde -- the Martha in Martha's Gardens -- is one of those people who ooze creativity.

Whether her focus is on flowers, or painting, or music, she's always thinking. But even with her active imagination, Martha never envisioned opening her own shop.

"I do love the industry and what I do," she said. "But owning a business, and being a mother wasn't exactly in the plans."

Those plans changed 15 years ago when Martha's husband suddenly got very ill, and she was faced with the possibility of supporting her family all on her own.

"I don't know that I would have had quite all of the ambition and drive had I not been going through such a health crisis within my family," she said.

But her husband bounced back and her business blossomed.

Now her creativity is in full bloom. Martha isn't shy about using non-traditional ingredients in her designs.

The hope is that customers are able to find the same joy in the arrangements that Martha and her crew find in making them.

"I think really it's just about giving to people … distributing happiness," she said.

The competition was tight this week, too, Angela's Bella Flora in Duluth was a close runner-up.