New flower business blooms in Huron

HURON — A new florist business is blossoming under the care of its owners.Sarah Lazette Gilbert, a 2000 Huron graduate, opened the Sweet Pea Flower Truck in May, but she's been peddling petals since high school."I got into the industry when I was in high school and started working with a friend of my mother's, Lisa Fantozzi, after she branched out and started the Enchanted Florist," Gilbert said. "She was a good friend and a mentor to me."Fantozzi was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2008, at which point the Enchanted Florist closed and there hasn't been a floral shop in the city since. Gilbert always wanted to open a floral business of her own and spent a year looking for a location with her husband."A brick-and-mortar location really wouldn't fit into my life as a new mother. I needed to be able to be at home more," Gilbert said.The couple started to brainstorm alternative ways she could open her own business and decided to try to do for florists what food trucks did for restaurants.The business's name pays tribute to Fantozzi — Sweet Pea is the birth flower for Fantozzi's birth month, April — and Gilbert's own family."Before we were blessed with our daughter, Isla, we, unfortunately, miscarried a child, but we called the child Sweet Pea because the due date was in April," Gilbert said. "It sort of feels like taking some of the bad and turning it into something good." Most of her flowers come from local growers or Cleveland if it's not naturally grown in Ohio. She hopes to eventually grow more of her own flowers but was limited this year because of time constraints.Gilbert has been showing up at pop-up shop events like the Huron's Lakefront Market to offer unique flowers and bouquet arrangements that people can't get from ordering online."I can get a wider variety of flowers and give people the experience of creating their own bouquet," Gilbert said. "I offer advice and help. You could go to a supermarket and pick up a prearranged bouquet, but it's not going to be as personal."The community has reacted positively to her growing business."There's been nothing but excitement and support. Outside my family, it's been the most fulfilling thing I have done," Gilbert said. "It has legs of its own and some times I just feel like I'm walking behind to support it."Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterThe Sweet Pea Flower Truck at the Huron Lake Front Market on Saturday, June 8.Sarah Gilbert is the owner of the newest flower business in town, Sweet Pea Flower Truck.A bouquet Sarah Gilbert arranged for her new business the Sweet Pea Flower Truck.