At first glance, Reyna’s Florist on the corner of 75th Street and Avenue I might look like any other flower shop in Houston with its vibrantly painted walls and tall glass windows displaying handfuls of delicate bouquets. But the flower shop houses over 75 years of history, including being the home of María Torres Reyna, Magnolia Park’s Reina de las Flores, or Queen of Flowers.
Known as such for her generosity, Reyna donated her service and flowers to those in need in both Magnolia Park and Mexico. Through her volunteer efforts with local and international civic organizations and churches, she became an important figure in bettering the well-being of Mexican Americans in Houston and across the border. For many, the flower shop became a home as well as a business. Reyna’s contributions attracted the attention of political figures like Mexican President José López Portillo and Houston Mayor Fred Hofheinz, who recognized her role as an entrepreneur and civic leader on Nov. 9, naming the day “Mary T. Reyna Day” 50 years ago in 1975.
But long before she’d be known around Houston as the Queen of Flowers, Reyna was a teenager from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, who had immigrated to the U.S. with the dream of opening a flower shop. After marrying José Ángel Reyna in San Antonio in 1927 when she was 16, the couple moved to Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood where José worked as a mechanic. María worked various jobs, including opening her own fruit stand on 75th Street which would later become the location of her famous floral shop.
One thing that remained the same throughout the years was María’s generosity and desire to help others. Luis Ybarra, one of María’s grandchildren who now owns Reyna’s Florist with his wife, Aurora, remembers stories about his grandmother going to the homes of children without parents to bring them food and gifts. Despite having five children of her own, María couldn’t bear to part with the children she visited.
“Every time she came back she was crying, ‘Ay the kids, I can’t leave them there,'” Ybarra says. “My grandfather was like, “We already got five, but go get them.’ And they brought them over and that made eight kids.”
María’s willingness to help others often drew her to offer them jobs at the floral shop, Ybarra says. Many of her former employees return to visit the shop. She volunteered her time to various organizations, including Comité Patriótico Mexicano, an organization dedicated to strengthening relationships between the U.S. and Mexico; an orphanage in Nuevo León called Ciudad de Niños; and various churches of different denominations. She was a founding member of both the Ladies League of United Latin American Citizens Council 22 and the Magnolia Park YWCA.
María’s involvement in civic and political affairs made her and her shop well known across Houston. Many of the people who visited when María ran the shop continued to visit and bring their family when Ybarra’s mother, Irma Christine Reyna Ybarra, took over. They continue to visit to this day, bringing with them stories and memories.
“The people are still here,” Ybarra says. “Magnolia Park’s got a lot of roots and everybody grows up here, but they leave. They all still have ties to the neighborhood, so when they need something or somebody they know passed away, they call us.”
Magnolia Park, named after the 3,000 magnolias planted in the community, is one of Houston’s oldest Hispanic neighborhoods and, today, is home to many businesses like Reyna’s Florist that continue to thrive as they’re passed through generations of the same family. One of these shops is Memo’s Record Shop, a record shop that opened in 1968 on 75th Street and is filled to the brim with Spanish records and a charismatic shop owner.
A lover of all things music, Memo Villarreal, the owner of the record shop, boasts an impressive collection of records and has met and brought famous Latin artists like Vincente Fernandez, Juan Gabriel, and Selena to Houston. Amongst all the stars he’s met, he fondly recalls María Torres Reyna who he would bring to performances with him.
“You’d see María Reyna at weddings, quinceañeras, fiestas mexicanas. María Reyna was there with the flowers,” Villarreal says. “Every show that I had María Reyna waws there, she loved music.”
Villarreal laughs as he recalls a meeting between María and Vincente Fernandez, who Villarreal says María was in love with. But just as much as María loved music and Vincent Fernandez, she loved making flower arrangements more and enjoyed doing so until she passed in 1987 when the business was passed down to her daughter, and after her passing in 2019, Luis and Aurora. To this day, Reyna’s Florist continues to be recognized by those in Magnolia Park and in Houston and even won the Small Business Boost from The Houston Texans in 2022.
“We love our businesses,” Villareal says. “María loved making flowers, and I love music, it’s why we stayed open so long.”
