DANIEL TYLER GOODEN

PHOTO: WORKING AT HER FAVORITE TASK, Donna Sistrunk designs a floral arrangement with Gerber Daisies, her favorite flower. Sistrunk has been in love with floral design ever since she was a teen-ager. Today she’s hard at work as she puts together bouquets for Valentine’s Day. (Staff Photo by Daniel Tyler Gooden) Today is a day for the celebration of love, and nobody knows that better than Donna Sistrunk, floral designer for Winn-Dixie in LaPlace. With 4,000 roses crammed in every cooler at the store, Sistrunk and her staff are helping lovers express their affection for friends, companions, partners and everyone in between on this first Valentine’s Day of the new millennium. For four years, Sistrunk has been supplying LaPlace with its floral gifts from Winn-Dixie. Ever since she was a teen-ager she “piddle-paddled with flowers and such,” said Sistrunk. Today she designs the arrangements for hundreds of buyers, combining her love of working with flowers with helping people express their love. “Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday. This is just my calling. This is what makes me the most happy,” she said. Since New Year’s Day. Sistrunk and her staff has been preparing for today. This weekend, Tiffany Duhe, one of Sistrunk’s workers, worked from midnight to 10 a.m. arranging flowers and putting them on display. With 4,000 roses to arrange and just as many candy bouquets to create, the crew has been working hard in preparation. The candy bouquets have grown in popularity, almost matching the amount of flowers sold. “They’re something a woman can give a man,” said Sistrunk. Nearly all the Valentine’s Day bouquets and gifts are sold today, but many are bought tomorrow. “We save some for the day after. We get a lot of dog house guys in here,” Sistrunk said with a smile. One would expect Valentine’s Day would be the biggest holiday for florists, but Mother’s Day ranks the highest. “Everybody has a mother,” reminded Sistrunk. Roses and potted plants are the biggest sellers for mothers. Sistrunk and her staff keep busy all year, arranging for all occasions. “Most people don’t know we do weddings,” said Sistrunk. They do weddings, funerals, carnivals, festivals, school functions and all other events, and Sistrunk makes many days special for many people. Some of the most fun, if not strangest arraignments, come from over-the-hill birthday parties. “We’ve had to make arrangements in the shape of graves. One party requested a bouquet of dead roses,” said Sistrunk. With hundreds of flowers wired together, weddings are the biggest challenge for floral designers and sometimes the most spectacular, said Sistrunk. Along with special occasions, Sistrunk provides flowers for regular customers. “One lady comes in every week for flowers,” said Sistrunk. Another gentleman comes in and always spends $150 or so on flowers, she added. Her flowers come from all over the world. The roses come from Equador in South America. Some flowers come from even more exotic places. Even though they don’t sell a lot of tropical flowers, Sistrunk has ordered rare flowers, such as Birds of Paradise, Protea and Ginger, which are all tropical flowers. “We can get any flower. If their really rare we can special order them, and it could take two weeks,” said Sistrunk. With all flowers, the price can be expensive, which Sistrunk is very conscious of. “We try to give everyone high quality for their money, especially on holidays, because flowers aren’t cheap. So we do the best we can to make everything look perfect,” said Sistrunk. Today Sistrunk is working hard with her staff, Jane Villnerve, Uttra Ri, Mary Waldridge and her mother, Ramona Sistrunk. IF you drop by today, the whole crew will be working in a fury to make sure everyone has the perfect Valentine’s Day. After Thursday, Sistrunk is taking some time off and then it’s back on the ball for Easter. After that comes another special day for Sistrunk. The week after Easter, Sistrunk’s valentine, Wayne Madare, will be her husband, and guess who’s doing the flowers.