Two years ago, Vivian Mohr left a more than 30-year career in local real estate to pursue her passion—floral design.

You may have noticed her floral shop, Hartz Flowers, is no longer in the tiny building at the intersection of Hartz and Railroad across from San Ramon Valley High, where it sat for 15 years.

Mohr bought the shop in 2008 from the original owners, the Emadi family, and moved to a spot on West Linda Mesa Avenue in August.

You won't see buckets of flowers hanging around this tidy and cheerful shop. That's because Mohr is a stickler for selling the freshest flowers, and doesn’t keep excessive flower stock around.

She visits the San Francisco Wholesale Flower Mart each week to buy flowers in season. Often, she says, inspiration strikes her while wandering the aisles of the flower mart.

The new shop gives her more indoor space to create. It also provides more foot traffic and parking. Greeting cards, candles and garden gifts are new, too.

Mohr's passion for floral design developed when she was growing up in France and Germany, she says.

Her father was a high-ranking officer in the military, and her mother arranged and hosted parties and events and created floral arrangements for the events. Mohr learned floral design from her mother and says their home always had fresh flowers.

Floral design lets her "be creative and make beautiful things for people to enjoy," she says.

She will occasionally take clients for weddings or parties, but for the most part, her aspirations are modest.

For customers on a budget, she will suggest options. Much of her business is from repeat customers who then refer other customers. And some people find the shop through Mohr's website.

Rather than getting business from large referral companies, Mohr says she aims to build individual relationships in the community. 

Hartz Flowers is at 120A West Linda Mesa Ave. in Danville. For more information, call 925-743-9982, or visit her website. Shop hours are Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Sun. 9 a.m.-3 p.m.