Family-Owned Since 1963 · A Proud Member of the Bovan Floral Group
Our Story
Every family flower shop has a founding story. Ours starts in a modest framed greenhouse in Mt. Morris, Michigan — cement block benches, dirt floors, and a little girl sweeping stem cuttings from around her mother's feet. Nearly fifty years later, that little girl leads a team serving all of Genesee County from our home on Belsay Road in Burton. This is how we got here.
Six Decades In Burton
Around 1978
A greenhouse with dirt floors
Our journey began when our parents purchased June's Floral Shop in Mt. Morris, Michigan — a business that had grown out of a very specific need: sympathy and cemetery floral tributes. Every spring, Mom designed through the great seasonal rush of Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was known then. The shop was a modest framed greenhouse with cement block benches and dirt floors, and the youngest member of the family had a job too: cleaning up the cuttings around Mom's feet and carrying her finished designs out to the sales area. That is where we learned that flowers are how a community remembers its people.
Growing Up In Flowers
Full-time at sixteen
By age sixteen, that little girl — Waneita — was a full-time employee, balancing the design bench with co-op programs, career technical school, and floral design school. There is no substitute for that kind of education: thousands of arrangements, every season Michigan can throw at a greenhouse, and customers who become neighbors and then friends. The training eventually earned her the Certified Floral Designer credential — but the instincts came from those years at her mother's side.
2006
The next generation takes over
In 2006, Waneita, her husband, and one of their daughters took over the family business — a third generation stepping up to the bench. As the business grew, two of Genesee County's other family-run heritage shops, Bentley Florist and Ketzler Florist, reached the end of their family lines with no successors to carry them forward. Letting shops like that disappear felt wrong. Taking them into our family and carrying on their legacy was a natural fit — and it is an honor we take seriously every day.
2024
One unified home in Burton
In 2024 we brought everything together, merging all of our operations into the Bentley Florist location at 1270 S. Belsay Road in Burton. One roof, one warm and attentive team, and one promise for all of Genesee County: exceptional hospitality alongside the most exquisite floral compositions we know how to make.
Today
The team you would want in your corner
Today we design for weddings, funerals, holidays, and the everyday moments in between — with artistry built to outlast trends and fads. Our aspiration is simple: when you look back at your photographs years from now, we want you to feel nothing but delight in the flowers you chose for your most precious occasions. Every patron matters here, and we go above and beyond to make sure your botanical gift is nothing short of impeccable.
What Six Decades Teaches You
How we think about customer service
Flowers are rarely about flowers. They are about the person receiving them and the moment they mark. That is why we answer the phone like neighbors, ask the extra question about who the arrangement is for, and tell you honestly when a less expensive choice will serve the moment better. Every patron holds significant value in our eyes, and our warm, attentive team goes above and beyond to make your experience with us truly delightful.
How we approach design
Led by a Certified Floral Designer with decades of seasoned expertise, our team crafts artistic, enduring compositions that transcend fleeting trends. We work with what Michigan gives us — peonies in June, dahlias in September, evergreens in December — and build designs meant to be timeless, so the flowers in your wedding photos and milestone tributes look as right in twenty years as they do today.
Our commitment to Genesee County
Burton is not our market; it is our home. This family has spent nearly fifty years in Genesee County flower shops — and carries forward the legacies of three of them. When you order from a local florist, the value stays here: in local jobs, local suppliers where possible, and a shop that will still be here the next time you need it.
Become part of the story
The next sixty years of Burton celebrations start with the same phone number as the first sixty.
Curious about the people behind the counter? Meet Wanita