Jane Carroll gives all the credit to Oprah. In August; 2001, desperate to get her struggling business off the ground fleur, she mailed photographs of her flower arrangements to Winfrey's O magazine. Oprah liked Carroll's work, but she wanted innovation. For years Carroll had toyed with the idea of arranging fresh-cut flowers in weathered pine boxes that could be shipped anywhere. ' "Now," she she says, "I was forced to do it."

That got her a mention in Oprah's magazine and a blooming business with clients like Halle Berry, Angela Bassett and Meredith Vieira. Carroll's Boxed in Blooms, which sell for $95 to $220, are expected to do $500,000 in sales this year. "Jane," says Vieira, "has the great ability to capture whimsy and beauty."

That quality wasn't immediately apparent when Carroll, 36, the second of four children of Bill, a steam-fitter, who died nine years ago, and homemaker Betty, 62, was growing up in The Bronx. After high school and several ho-hum jobs, she says, she realized "I wanted to do something creative.' " She took a course in flower arranging in 1989 and worked out of her basement for three years before renovating a studio in Irvingtou, N.Y., where she now lives with Michael, 13, her son from a seven-year marriage to ex-husband Eugene Naan, 50.

Next up: "The Academy Awards," says Carroll. "They want the boxes for their goody bags."

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