Once upon a time, there was a bouquet left on an empty park bench waiting to be picked up by an unsuspecting and lucky passerby. The hand-tied arrangement had a tag that read, “Take me!” And thus, the Lonely Bouquet as founded. “The main idea behind the Lonely Bouquet concept is to recognize and appreciate the importance of spreading a smile. You might love flowers as much as I do but this concept is so much bigger than just flowers. You can make the world a better place and pass on a little bit of love in so many other ways,” says florist Emily Avenson, who created the goodwill gesture. The trend has definitely caught on and have popped up in dozens of countries from Poland to Finland, Japan and Australia. There’s also now an International Lonely Bouquet Day (June 28) and a website and Facebook group to track thousands of donated and adopted bouquets around the world.
M&V: The Lonely Bouquet is such a lovely concept. Tell me how it came to be.
AVENSON: The idea of spreading Lonely Bouquets literally grew out of my own cutting garden. With a fair amount of flowers going unused and a desire to give back to the community, I came up with the idea of putting together hand-tied arrangements and leaving them behind in public places. I tied on a “take me!” tag to grab the attention of walkers-by, wished them farewell, and hoped that they would find a new happy home with a loving local.
M&V: Typically what are the reactions that people have when they encounter one of the bouquets?
AVENSON: Honestly, I would say that about 30 percent of the people simply walk by the flowers without even looking, another 30 percent read the note and quickly carry on, 20 percent read the note and smile, another 15 percent take it a step further by picking the flowers up and strongly considering bringing them home, but only 5 percent of the people who walk by actually pick up the flowers and carry them off to their new home.
That being said, the reactions you receive are really heart-warming. Everyone who takes the flowers home seems to have their own special reason as to why that surprise find meant so much to them. I’ve read a story of a lady happening upon the flowers on the way to her sister’s memorial service, and the flowers just happened to be her sister’s very favorite color. There’s been a man visiting his friend recovering in the hospital, and a young woman down and out after just getting dumped by her boyfriend, beginning to question the friendliness of the universe before *bang* there was a bouquet of flowers staring her in the face.
M&V: Do you believe you are making a difference in the world?
AVENSON: I hope that in my own little way I am making a difference. Hopefully, through flowers, I can show people that kindness exists where you least expect it, that it’s important to give back to the community, to see the world in a positive light, and that something so simple as a small bunch of flowers can produce a smile for a whole day… or week!
M&V: Do you ever sit and watch who takes the bouquet?
AVENSON: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I find it makes me nervous, so most often I choose to just “drop and go.” It is, however, really exciting to see someone walking through town moment or even hours later excitedly clutching the Lonely Bouquet!
M&V: Any recommendations on which flowers (type of bouquet to leave) and where you should leave them?
AVENSON: Dahlias, roses, sunflowers, and other sturdy blooms make for the best Lonely Bouquets. This way you can leave the flowers without a jar of water (something that seems to put some people off from taking the bouquet) for a while and the flowers will still stay fairly fresh. I’ve found that well-traveled locations are the best bet when it comes to leaving the Lonely Bouquets behind. Cafés or public places with static traffic (i.e. an audience) seem to make most people shy away from taking the flowers.
