Vicki and Ron McFall opened Blooms & Things on August 1, 1985, and it's been ours ever since. Today Vicki's son Mark designs every arrangement himself, and the flowers still go out the old way — hand-delivered across Calaveras County by family.
Floral Designer Mark McFallDrivers Ron McFall & Jim Hughes
Forty years, season by season
Mark first wrote this history down for our 30th anniversary in 2015 — these are those pages, photos and all, carried forward to today.
Cedar Center, Arnold — where it all started, 1985Vicki & Iva, 1985
1985
A little shop beside Daffy’s Roost
Blooms & Things began as a labor of love in the summer of 1985, when Vicki and Ron McFall, together with Vicki’s mother Iva Hughes, bought the flower shop from Carol Jones of Arnold — Vicki had worked for Carol for about a year when the chance came up. They opened their own doors on August 1, 1985, in a tiny space in Cedar Center right beside Daffy’s Roost, the restaurant Vicki’s parents ran.
It wasn’t at all uncommon for folks to pick up lunch and a bunch of Margaret daisies for the office on the way out — and as the flower side grew, Iva often found herself running the restaurant and the flower shop at the same time.
The pumpkin patch out front — October 1990
1990
The Whiskey River years
As the nineties approached, Vicki’s parents sold the restaurant and Blooms & Things moved into the Junction Building — known around Arnold in the eighties as “Whiskey River,” and before that home of the old Arnold Post Office. The move tripled our space, and the staff list read like a family reunion: Vicki, Ron, Iva, Cecil, all three sons, plus aunts, uncles, brothers, sister, nieces and nephews.
It was during this era that we partnered with Hallmark, adding cards and gifts alongside the flowers.
Moved into the Applewood Center store, April 1994
1994
An eleven-door cooler (a florist’s dream)
By 1994 the shop had outgrown its walls yet again, so we took up residence in the old Applewood liquor store — which came with an eleven-door walk-in cooler. If you’ve never heard a florist gasp, show her an eleven-door cooler.
By this time Vicki’s three sons, her sister, her brother, and nieces had all taken their turns behind the counter as the business kept growing.
The morning after, 1995Saying thank you, July 1995
1995
The fire — and the thank-you
1995 tested us. That summer, fire swept through the shop. But what the family remembers most isn’t the smoke — it’s what came after: the way Arnold showed up for us. By the July parade the delivery van was decorated bumper to bumper and rolling down the highway with one hand-painted message: thank you.
Through the good and the bad — the fire, and in time the passing of Cecil and Iva — the shop was always the family’s safe zone.
The Calaveras Enterprise, November 1997 — tap the clipping to read it full size
1997
Angels Camp calls
In 1997 the phone rang: Jim Berganz of Berganz Florist in Angels Camp was moving on to other interests and offered us his location on Highway 49. We were already delivering to Angels Camp almost every day, so it made perfect sense — especially with gas prices climbing.
Vicki’s son Mark — who by then had grown up in the floral industry — headed down the hill as branch manager to build the business and its customer relationships, and that November the marquee over the old Bergantz sign read Blooms and Things Florist for the first time.
The A&W stand in 1962 — and the same building as Blooms & Things, 2014
1999
The old A&W Root Beer building
In 1999 we saw our chance to move down the street into the old A&W Root Beer drive-in, sitting vacant right in the center of town. Business picked up almost immediately — everybody knew that building.
Folks had been pulling in there for root beer floats since 1962. Now they pull in for roses.
The 2000s
The town grew up around us
Over the next few years a whole shopping center took shape directly across the street. First came the construction crews — who, it turns out, buy a lot of bouquets for their significant others on the way home — and then the businesses themselves. Before long, our Angels Camp store was outpacing the original Arnold shop.
Around the same time a talented designer named Tammy Zeyen joined Mark in Angels Camp. Her gift for wedding work became a cornerstone of the company — and freed Mark up to help Vicki and Ron run the growing business.
Looking across the street from the shop — 2000, and again in 2014
Our San Andreas storefront, 2006–2008
2006
Three shops, for a while
When the delivery logs showed a couple hundred runs into San Andreas in just a few months, we knew what that meant — the same math that had brought us to Angels Camp. We opened a third location there in July 2006, with the doors officially open August 1 — our 21st anniversary.
The first year looked promising. Then the economy turned hard. Near the end there was a week we didn’t see a single customer, and on August 1, 2008 — two years to the day after opening — we closed San Andreas.
The last Arnold storefront — Barry Ward building, 2010At home in the workroom — the family’s safe zone
2009–2010
Saying goodbye to Arnold
The downturn kept squeezing. In early 2009 we downsized the original Arnold store into the Barry Ward building, and in November 2010 we closed Arnold for good. That one hurt the most — it was the shop where everything began, through so many seasons of family life.
But Angels Camp held steady through the whole storm, and we poured everything into it. We never stopped delivering to Arnold — and we never will.
2012–2014
Weddings, weddings, weddings
By 2012 business was climbing again, and the reason was simple: Calaveras County had quietly become wedding country. Small wineries and ranch venues — 45 of them and counting, back then — were drawing couples from all over the world to tie the knot in the foothills, and Blooms & Things became the county’s wedding-specialist flower shop.
The Main Street shop in its wedding-specialist years — straight from our old website banner
Ron, Vicki & Mark with the “30” cake, 2015
2015
Thirty years
2015 turned out to be our best year since the doors first opened — and our 30th in business. That’s the year Mark sat down and wrote this whole story out for the first time, promising to keep updating it “as we make history.”
The big-wedding whirlwind quieted after 2020, and honestly, the shift suited us. Smaller, more intimate celebrations leave room for what we’re best at — real time on every design, real customization, and the personal touch we’re known for.
March 2025
Remembering Vicki
Vicki McFall
In March 2025 we lost our founder, Vicki McFall. Vicki was more than a florist — she was the heartbeat of Blooms & Things. Her passion, creativity, and care touched every bouquet, every event, and every customer for nearly forty years.
Though she’s no longer with us, her spirit guides everything we do — from the way we arrange flowers to the way we look after the people who order them.
June 2025
The studio era
We traded the storefront for Mark’s home flower studio in Angels Camp and moved to an online-and-phone model. Orders come in around the clock at BloomsAndThings.com or at 209-736-6771, and Ron and Jim still carry the flowers out Monday through Friday — Saturdays too, by advance order — all over Calaveras County. Same flowers, same family, just lighter on our feet. We operate under City of Angels Camp Business License #25044.
2026
A new bloom online
Forty-plus years in, the world is learning to work alongside AI — and so is the flower shop. This website was rebuilt from the ground up by Mark working side by side with an AI assistant: every page, every photo, every frog. It’s how a small family florist keeps up with the big guys — thoughtfully, and on our own terms.
The part that matters hasn’t changed and never will: every arrangement is still chosen, designed, and delivered by human hands. The AI just helps with the website.
Why the frog?
Angels Camp is the home of Mark Twain’s “Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” and every May the whole town turns out for the Jumping Frog Jubilee. That’s why a pair of well-dressed frogs — she’s the one in the pink dress, he’s the one with the “Special Delivery” sign — have been the faces of our delivery service for years. They take the flowers seriously. Mostly.
What we do best
Everyday joy — designer bouquets for birthdays, anniversaries, new babies, and “just because.”
Sympathy & tributes — dignified funeral and remembrance flowers, delivered on time to homes, services, and gravesites.
Weddings & events — from a single bridal bouquet to the whole celebration.
Plants & lasting gifts — blooming and green plants that keep going long after the card is read.
Thank you for being part of our journey
Call 209-736-6771 — we’d love to make something beautiful with you.
