Vineyard’s Gifts, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, is located in one of the quaintest little pockets of Jackson. On the corner of Wiley Parker and North Highland Avenue sits a small shopping center including a florist, spa, children’s clothing store, and café. In the center of it all is Vineyard’s Gifts, a boutique gift shop that specializes in bridal and baby registry, stationery, invitations, and gift items. The store was originally opened as a florist in downtown Jackson by Lyda Tomlin Vineyard.

Hello Jackson: Nell Huntspon Flower Box

Nell Huntspon Flower Box is a full-service florist located on North Royal Street and has been serving the Jackson area for over forty-six years. When I walked in to meet and interview Nell, she was talking with a customer on the phone, so I browsed the array of house plants and gifts on display in the shop. She smiled at me, and when she finished her call, she invited me to have a seat.

Rita's Gold

Among a greenhouse full of sprouting and thriving plants and hanging baskets overflowing with carefully attended vines, Rita Randolph meticulously places a cutting of a plant into its own compartment of soil so that it will take root and grow. I am at Morris Nursery on accident, because a warm spring afternoon convinced me I could learn to keep a few plants alive.