Just starting my flowering morning! I sat quietly in a chapel asking what the Happy Flower Day Project really is. In the quiet of my meditation, I heard -
Flower strong!
Flowers at the ready to help people during the pandemic
Finding a home for day-old flowers, that are ever new to the person who receives them
Purposeful flowering to people who experience sadness and challenges
The travels of Trisha....reaching out
An active and joy-filled mission
120 free bouquets lifted spirits with seeds of joy at 4 Philadelphia senior communities today.
Thoughts about Blossoming Smiles in your Community
My mission to spread the word that others nationwide and worldwide can “rescue” beautiful flowers - free and fun to do.
Suggested Interview Questions
What were the ‘seeds’ for the Happy Flower Project?
What keeps it blossoming?
How has it made a difference in the lives of those who are receiving the gifts? Please share some stories.
How has it made a difference in your life and those of the folks who have been your ‘elves’? (volunteers)
Why are random acts of kindness so important?
What is your biggest dream for the Happy Flower Project?
How can people support your dream?
How would someone start a Happy Flower Day Project in their own community? Is it complicated?
Is this a project that young children and their parents could enjoy doing together?
Why is it good to start early to teach kids to give back and do random acts of kindness?
Tell us about the power of kindness via flower-sharing, and why you think it is magical.
I have some “free flower-giving” secrets to share with your audience.
Flowery Mood-Boosting Way to Lift Spirits
The More, the Flower-i-er!
The Happy Flower Day Project began in 2013, accidentally and without any plan. I just want to say that making the flower deliveries to surprise strangers, makes ME so happy! It warms other people’s hearts too!
It is a privilege to be the bearer of the grocery stores’ flower donations.
Today’s comments - quick way to lift the pandemic blues!
I am on my way to work. God bless you.
We have five people working in the senior center today. They would love the flowers.
My mother grew flowers like this as her business. I remember as a little kid, I would be in the fields with her over by Saint Gabe’s and Valley Forge Park.
Thank you for stopping by our mini-market when you are passing by. This is about the 8th time you have given me flowers.
We are having a memorial service for the ten month old baby that was on the news. Tonight at 6 pm. Thank you for ten bouquets for everyone.
I work so hard at my cleaning service job. The flowers are making me feel happy today.
The retired Sisters love getting your flowers. Thank you for bringing them to our retirement community.
My girlfriend is mad at me. I thinks these flower will help the situation.
I am going to take these bouquets to the other ladies on George Street.
Free, Fun and Easy Way to Have a Great Day
10 a.m. - HOW I POWER MY DAY!
159 free bouquets are ready, willing and able to bring joy and smiles to 159 strangers!
Comments so far today -
Yesterday was my anniversary!
It is hard because I can’t visit my mother in the nursing home now. No visitors allowed, and she can’t communicate with her roommate. I can drop these flowers off for her at the reception desk.
Oh, I would love the pink ones to match my living room.
I am going to put these flowers around my bathtub with some candles, and play some soothing music. I need self-care right now.
These are great for me to give to my girlfriend.
We have 20 aides working here. I can pass them out.
I am going to put all of these in my car now, and pass them out to the neighbors when I get home.
My grandfather died this week.
My nephew died last week - 21 years old.
Being a gerontologist is hard now. When I worked in a hospital, we had what we needed. But now, with the pandemic, I am working in a different capacity, and that has challenges.
My coworkers will love these flowers.
Cheer Up the Neighborhood with Colorful Flowers!
On my way to fill the “fresh flower vacuum” for people’s kitchen tables, and nursing home residents’ bedside nightstands. Here are the first 49 bouquets of the 100 scheduled for pick up. Free flowers are good medicine for the mind, body, and soul.
Comments -
“Did you know that my husband died? He was 88. I am 82. Thank you for the flowers.”
“My mother is arriving here to live at this assisted living. She will be here in a few minutes. These flowers will be her “Welcome” gift. She is coming from the hospital.”
“We met online 17 years ago, in our later years. May I take some flowers to my sweetheart?”
“I was under so much stress this week on the phone with my insurance company and doctor’s office to resolve an issue. I was at my wits end. I feel calmer now. I just needed a little kindness right now.
These roses are beautiful.“I am a visiting nurse. I came today to take care of one of the Sisters in the monastery. I will take these flowers in to her.”
“I will put these flowers at the altar for everyone in the adoration chapel to enjoy.”
“I am the activity director. I will take these two bags of flowers to the memory unit, and we can do a flower arranging activity.”
“Our residents/staff were so touched by your gesture of beautiful bountiful blooms.”
The Pure Joy of Passing Out 91 Bouquets at a Food Pantry
Ninety-one free, glorious, fresh, colorful, donated bouquets were ready to go! Pouring rain here, but more than ever people need good cheer today! I found new homes for them at the Friday food pantry located at Saint Paul’s parish.
Comments shared with me by a volunteer after she passed them out to each person along with their bags of food -
Are these really for me?
I love flowers but cannot afford to treat myself to them.
Patricia, I am getting such joy passing these flowers out today - especially on such a dreary, rainy day.
Oh, my mom will love these.
God bless the store that donates these. They are beautiful.
With the rain today, I was feeling cranky. My heart feels warm now.
I am smiling just thinking about who I am going to give them to.
Amid Darkness, Montco Woman Gives Flowers To Strangers - article by Justin Heinze (Patch.com)
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Where will flowering take you?
My “Flower Lady” light was a little dim today. Stomach was hurting. Feeling tired and out of sorts. I DECIDED TO TAKE A BREAK AND NOT DELIVER FREE FLOWERS TO SENIORS….but at 9 a.m., I changed my mind.
Fifty seniors and staff at the senior center were glad that I did change my mind.
I started to feel better when I saw so many faces light up with joy at the surprise of free flowers. I received this email a little while ago. “It was great meeting you today, Patricia! Thank you for all of the wonderful bouquets of smiles that you bring our seniors in Norristown.”
When you click the link below, it takes you to the main Happy Flower Day site.
We gave colorful floral bouquets to the staff to show appreciation.
There is a song with lyrics that say, “When mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
I think it might relate to people who work in long term care facilities.
“If the employees ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
We took six bags of flowery bouquets of joy to a community in Montgomery County. I guess about 65 “Have a nice day” types of bouquets. We gave them to the staff to show appreciation and to the residents as an outreach of kindness. Here are some pictures of the staff. We hope that it made them feel appreciated for all of the hard work that they do!
You can do a kind flowery deed!
I started “The Happy Flower Day Project” in 2013. I visit “anywhere that my heart leads me” to pass out the FREE day-old flowers donated by grocery stores. I guess you could say I deliver blooms and smiles….for miles and miles.
http://www.happyflowerday.org
Kindness prescription from The Flower Lady –
If you are looking for your purpose, happiness, or something to do, there’s nothing like bringing flowers to people and making their frowns turn upside down! A happy flower day is any day that you show gestures of affection, hope, and friendship while sharing free, garden-given delights.
Let the flowers reign through a senior community today!
Today the wonderful residents got the gift of gardening without all the hard work. No need for bags of peat moss, fertilizer, hoses and pruning shears. Oh, I love the conversations.
“Patricia, can you sit for a spell with me? My grandmother had flowers like this hanging on her front porch. There was nothing fancy about that bungalow. I used to put my feet up on the railing. She did absolutely nothing, except hang the laundry on the line and talk to me, until it was time to make dinner. Neighbors stopped by, so it was a busy front porch. I remember one thing in particular. One day, a neighbor brought her a horseshoe for good luck. She let me hammer it on the wood door frame. It was no secret that she loved me. She told everybody that. She always had time to listen to me.”
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR THE FLOWER LADY – Pictures of today’s adventures
Some flowers get all the looks!
Some flowers get all the looks! That is why I like collecting them, and delivering them to surprise strangers all over the Philadelphia and suburban areas.
I marvel at how people gaze at the flowers with joy written all over their faces.
I love that flowers get all of the looks….the looks of appreciation, happiness, joy, fun and surprise.
Extra! Extra! Get your fresh and free flowers – at a bus station and a picnic area today
This gallery contains 11 photos.
Bring back the May Baskets – kindness project for Moms/Dads and kids for Mother’s Day Weekend
Here is a simple idea. Gather a group of moms or dads. Go to a store that sells flowers and BUY a bunch of bouquets. Maybe purchase ten bouquets at a place such as Produce Junction, a flower mart, Trader Joe’s, flower shop, grocery store or wherever flowers are SOLD but not expensive.
Separate the flowers in the bouquet. Tie a pretty ribbon or a colorful card to each stem. The card might say YOU ARE LOVED. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY. You will find lots of positive messages on Pinterest.
The card could have ANY simple message of encouragement typed or handwritten on it. Or no card is really needed.
Call an assisted living or nursing home facility. Ask to speak to the activity director. Explain that you would like to visit with some little ones, and the children have a single flower for each senior.
This would not be a big project. It could be a one-time event. Maybe for Mother’s Day weekend. You will have so much fun. Give each child a little basket with ten flowers.
Have each child carry the basket and extend a flower and a smile.
Link to a video of Moms and little kids passing out flowers at a nursing home
Or do this project with your own family. The seniors love the interaction with the little children. And what a valuable lesson you are teaching the kids about kindness!
IDEA: I looked up CHILDREN GIVING FLOWERS NURSING HOME on YouTube. I came across a great YouTube video about the Lilies of the Field organization. Watch this video if you want to see what flowers mean to seniors in retirement centers and nursing homes. Here is an excerpt that I saw written under the YouTube video. Lilies of the Field is a non-profit that exists to encourage mothers with young children to share their precious kids with the elderly. Seniors have wisdom and varied hobbies to share with those ready to listen, not to mention some great living history. You and your kids will keep your new older friends young with new experiences and more engaging social interactions. Blessing the lonely at assisted living facilities will also provide positive controlled exposure for you to model and to encourage your children to value and embrace those residents with physical, speech, or mental disabilities. Not sure how to make your introduction to your child’s newest “Grammy” or “Grampy?” Watch the video and see how flowers can be a bridge to a beautiful friendship.
Flowers first thing in the morning given to the young woman who bumped into my car while waiting at the red light!
I was stopped waiting for the light to change from red to green. Bang! Thump! I hopped out of my car as the twenty-something young woman exclaimed, “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to bump you. I hope there is no damage.”
She was very upset. Her friend who was in the passenger seat was also upset. I did a very quick assessment. Thankfully, it was just few scratch marks but no dents. I hugged her and told her everything was okay.
Then I said, “I have something for you – for your mom to put on the kitchen table.” I grabbed a bag of beautiful glorious bouquets from the back seat of my flower-mobile (aka little white KIA) and handed them to her. Probably ten bouquets of donated bouquets of tulips were in the bag.
Being the Flower Lady is easy….and gets even easier when you have the opportunity to spread some flowery love to a scared young woman.
I kind of blended my roles as a mother of four children and The Flower Lady. What would I want someone to do if it were one of my kids who tapped someone’s vehicle – or me?
My flowering volunteer is Ella who is 94-years-old – a true late bloomer
“Petals and Blooms-ceptional” Day at a Senior Center and an Adult Day Care Program
It was a rainy and cold day here in Philadelphia. But it was a flower-ceptional day to take flowers to a senior center and an adult day center. I had my favorite volunteer flower-giver with me – my friend Ella who is 94-years-old. We walked in with our arms full of flowers to give away for FREE to seniors and caregivers.
Passing out the flowers was a way to warm hearts with bright and cheery bouquets – a mix of dramatic red roses, purple and pink tulips, and a rainbow colored assortment of daisies and chrysanthemums. All donated to me FREE – the flowers and plants were unsold merchandise from the store’s Easter inventory.
My motto: Let not a bouquet be thrown away while it still has a blessing in it. (I just made that motto up – just popped into my mind.)
Flower blessings are so commonplace in outside gardens and on church altars – but to my dismay, not commonplace in nursing homes, group homes, shelters, hospitals, and hospices.
The scent of the flowers, the brightly-colored cellophane wrapping and the beauty of each flower permeated well-being, cheer, and improved the mood of many of the participants.
The leftover flowers got a second chance of life – thankfully because they were not disposed of. The community center seniors received a surprise. A win-win exchange.
Maybe the flowers made their day! I sure hope so. Visiting them made my day happy. I made a mental note of resolve to share this idea in as many ways as I can.
Link to Happy Flower Day main website
Things are not always ‘rosy” with people when they are sick or lonely.
I read that 1.6 million people receive Hospice Care annually. You can partner with a hospice care organization and deliver donated flowers to hospice patients. How about the nationwide Meals on Wheels program? Contact them. Ask if they would like to add a bouquet of beautiful tulips, roses, carnations and daisies – to the meals that their volunteers deliver to shut-ins.
Things are not always ‘rosy” with people when they are sick or lonely. Flowery kindness makes a difference. Flowers fill gloomy places with smiles! Your flowers have the power to say someone cares – you are not forgotten. I am not sure how many flowers I have in these carts today. (Want to take a wild guess? My guess is 175 bouquets.) How can YOU not be happy when you give people flowers? How can ANY PERSON not be happy when someone gives THEM flowers? Flowers bloom smiles, lift depression and connect strangers.
I invite you to stop and smell the roses and start your own way of giving surprise gifts of flowery cheer.
Happy Flower Day! Oodles of flowers travel around Philadelphia and the suburbs – just flowering around!
Where is my happy place? Wherever I can make life prettier with the gift of colorful flowers.
I took the flowers to a retirement home for retired nuns. Twenty flashy, splashy bouquets of flowers were selected by the sweet retired Sisters. On the way out, I saw a van picking up some of the Sisters who go to an adult day care program. I asked the driver if there were people on the bus or at the center who would like flowers. “Yes, of course. These beautiful flowers will really brighten their day.”
I stopped to buy a soda at a Sunoco mini-market on Montgomery Avenue. I often carry flowers in for the cashiers. I placed 3 bouquets on the counter. I told them that my car was unlocked, and they could go out and “shop” in my car – so they could take some free flowers home to their loved ones or neighbors.
Yes, flowers to go….for anyone and anywhere!
I drove to Marshall Street and took them to the busy laundromat. Julia, the manager came out to my car and helped me bring in 40 bouquets. I saw a lady waiting for a bus at the corner. She had a large tote bag. “Would you like some flowers for your kitchen table?” She smiled and said, “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, God. I really need these today. Do you have any more we can take to the senior center on George Street?”
I answered that I had twenty-five more in my back seat. She hopped into the passenger seat of my car and off we went in that direction. Then she changed her mind about where they should go. “Let’s take them to the apartments where I live. There are a lot of sad people there – people with oxygen and cancer. Everyone likes flowers.”
I asked how to get there. We went – my new friend and me…..not sure of exactly where the flowers would go in the next five minutes. “Let’s go right in this front door.”
We went in. She put together a couple of long metal tables and instructed me, “Put all of the flowers here.” I waited about five minutes……the flowering buzz was spreading around the building. “Flower surprise! Flower surprise!”
Flowers help us in so many ways. I don’t think this chance encounter was an accident – meeting the lady at the bus stop. She knew the pulse of some elderly ladies – she knew where spirits needed to be lifted. I was just the follower. Following her lead to bring some unexpected joy.
I like when off I go, into the flowery, (blue and pink and yellow and purple) blue yonder.
Oh, anywhere else? Yep, to a man sitting on his porch in Philadelphia in a wheelchair, to a lady walking down the street, and a lady leaving her office building. I simply say, “I think the world needs a little love today. I am giving away free flowers. Would you like one for your kitchen table?”
All in favor of people receiving FREE FLOWERS, say “aye!” (Those opposed, say “no.”)
Pictured here is Bob, one of my faithful senior volunteers!
