Pink, white and purple flowers showcase the storefront of Madonna’s Garden, a new floral shop on Raymond Boulevard in downtown Newark.

Madonna’s Garden, on the site of a former barbershop near the Rutgers University-Newark campus, is the culmination of decades of preparation and months of hard work by Sheaun Barnes, a local florist.

Opening day was Sept. 15, with a dozen or so close friends and family, food, champagne, and gift bags and a real plant inside. Sheaun’s daughter, Chaancé, a professional singer, belted out a few R&B tunes, a band played in the background, and Sheaun and her older brother, Stoney Barnes, cut the red ribbon.

“Today is more than a grand opening," said Shennel Barnes, Sheaun's niece, during the opening ceremony. "It is the unveiling of a dream, 35 years in the m

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