Always in Bloom
The Busy Hands Helping Create a More Beautiful Bartow
Photos by Jordan Randall
If you ever see Michelle Snyder walking past your home and she looks lost in thought, don’t worry, she’s probably just redesigning your entire porch and front yard landscaping in her mind.
The owner of In Bloom Specialties has a simple, yet profound mission of “beautifying people’s spaces one little pot at a time.” That mission stems back to when she was a young girl filling pots with fertilizer to help her mom during sun-soaked summers in Lake Placid, Fla., and to a daily ritual as a young adult of morning walks with her mom, where the duo would let their creative juices flow.
"We would redesign people's porches and re-landscape their yards just in our conversation," the 46-year-old Bartownian says.
They’d dream up the perfect arrangements—"Oh, they need ferns," or "Wouldn't their house be just darling with hydrangeas out front?" This daily communion with her mother, Theresa McDonald, cultivated a keen eye for beauty and a deep-seated desire to create "cottagey," peaceful outdoor spaces for others.
Fast forward to 2019. After years of watching her own mother and her father—who has owned Lake Placid Moving and Storage since he was 19—it was clear the entrepreneurial spirit was in Michelle’s blood. She approached her husband, Patrick Snyder, with the idea of starting her own floral and garden business. His response was the catalyst: "Ok, quit your job and let’s make this happen.”
The company offers custom floral work and comprehensive garden maintenance for both commercial and residential properties. Their maintenance contracts are a way to take the guesswork out of year-round beauty. Michelle’s pitch to potential clients is simple and compelling: "You never have to think about it. Your porch always looks like this."
This includes watering, fertilizing, pruning, and replacing dead flowers and plants, ensuring a client's space remains spectacular whether it takes one visit a week or three.
Snyder says a lot of locals have fondness for the outdoor aesthetic of places like Georgia and North Carolina, so it’s no surprise that a lot of her work involves bringing those vibes to people’s homes.
Her business, which now has seven staff members, has also earned a reputation as the reason Downtown Bartow looks delightfully beautiful throughout the year. Along streets like Central Ave. you can’t walk more than a couple of yards without running into some of her artful displays of color and foliage. What started as one small business believing in her talent—when she provided a client with a massive pot filled with ornamental cabbage and blooming flowers—sprouted into the word-of-mouth credibility needed to become a community favorite.
The business has even allowed her to travel for special projects, like a memorable job in Downtown Charleston, S.C., a few years ago. The opportunity came when a local boutique she had worked with moved there and "brought us with her," a testament to the trust Michelle had built.
Her family is central to everything. Michelle and Patrick, her biggest supporter, own a quaint brick home in Bartow and a 136-acre pine farm in Central Georgia. The farm is not just an investment; it’s a shared love of the land. Patrick’s calm, steady presence is also her touchstone. When Michelle is "down and out and sad that all of my product died or froze," he reminds her to focus on the process, urging her, "Just keep your head down, one pot at a time."
Her two children have also been part of this journey. Her 18-year-old daughter, Reese, fell in love with the work over time. Her 16-year-old son, Tyson, a junior at Bartow High School, is committed enough to be out watering downtown pots at 8:30 p.m., sticking to the schedule required to do the work and earn a paycheck. In a fun reversal of roles from her childhood, Michelle’s mother is now her helper and confidante, and the two often go wholesaling together and are always dreaming up new ideas.
Many of Michelle’s mornings begin with her enjoying a cup of coffee in her rocking chair on her front porch, a Bible in hand as she gets herself centered for the day ahead.
“It's indescribable,” she says about the serenity she finds working in the soil every day. “ It doesn’t belong to us...it’s just keeping things alive out of good stewardship.”
For Michelle Snyder, success isn't about growing as large as possible as quickly as possible, it is a slow, steady ascent, rooted in her earliest memories, sustained by her faith, cheered on by her family, and ultimately, visible to everyone who passes a porch or public space touched by her artistry.
With every geranium, azalea, and pot of ornamental cabbage, In Bloom Specialties continues to live up to its name, proving that one little pot, tended with love and care, is more than enough to create a beautiful, thriving business.
“‘it’s indescribable,” she says about the serenity she finds working in the soil every day.
“it doesn’t belong to us... it’s just keeping things alive out of good stewardship.”
Pine straw is among the favorite coverings available through In Bloom Specialties.
To learn more about In Bloom Specialties or schedule service:
Call 863.441.2426
or email inbloomspecialties@gmail.com