Lonely Bouquet Stories
In August, our members make small bouquets and leave these treasures in public places for strangers to find them. We hope these small gifts will make someone smile and feel appreciated. Each bouquet has a tag asking the finder to email back and tell us where the bouquet ended up. We report on some of those stories here.
August 2024:
I found my beautiful dahlia bouquet around 5pm today at Safeway Morrissey. They were on the pallets of bottled water in front of the store. Their pretty little faces made my day 😊 what a special surprise.
Thanks again for blessing us with your thoughtfulness.
August 2024:
While taking an afternoon walk along Grand Avenue on Depot Hill, I came upon your Lonely Bouquet 💐 and read the note 📝
Thank you for leaving this beautiful bouquet! It truly made my day 😊❤️
August 2024:
Saturday evening my friend and I were out for a lovely evening stroll when we saw a couple of flower arrangements on the fence rail at depot hill. What a wonderful and beautiful gift. So appreciated. Thank you for your kindness.
Have a wonderful day!
Btw, dahlias are my favorite flower and have recently begun growing them.
August 2024:
I was walking to the fruit stand, Mexican market in Watsonville and seen this beautiful bouquet of flowers - alone…the were on a concrete slab. I walked up to see what the tag said. I’m like, “Wow, they are gorgeous - I can take them.” I felt so blessed.
Thank you so much!! They truly made my day.
Such a beautiful gesture to do for people and really lifts up your spirit. Unexpected.
THANK YOU!!
August 2024:
Absolutely lovely! My granddaughter Maddie found it at the park at Hidden Beach. The bouquet survived a day at the beach and made it home safely.
Thank you!
August 2024:
Finding this bouquet this morning was the sweetest surprise. I had a very busy Saturday planned, preparing for my son‘s wedding in a couple of weeks and I had 20 minutes to kill between appointments so I grabbed a coffee and a muffin at the Farm and decided to sit outside. Your precious bouquet was sitting on a table all alone, so I decided to read the tag which brought a smile to my face. In an effort to pay it forward, I offered it to my massage tech, but unfortunately, she was traveling by bicycle today, and was unable to transport it to her home, so I brought it to mine!
Thank you for the kind gesture.
August 2024:
I found it this boutique of flowers outside my house at a stop bus and they were really beautiful and I took it home for my office.
Thank you.
August 2024:
Hello. I found this lonely beautiful bouquet at Cat and Cloud in Aptos this morning. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. This meant so much to me.
This morning I prayed; my mother suffered a stroke and it’s been very hard; nonetheless, I prayed to God for a sign and I strongly believe this was a disguised sign from God. I am a plant and flower lover. I can't thank you enough.
August 2023:
Quick note to thank you for being so magical. Here is a story about one of your lonely bouquet.
I arrived in Santa Cruz for a Dance conference the week of August 14. The 15th was a Wednesday and I decided to go to the downtown farmers market and was inspired to buy a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my friends were putting on the conference at the tannery.
The following morning, I met a friend for a coffee. I figured I’d get around to getting a vase with flowers somehow.
To my amazement I found myself pulling right in front of the big ceramic wall where the most beautiful dahlias in a vase!
I’m gonna confess here. I wanted those dahlias, but I figured to myself, “Those dahlias obviously belong to someone and they left them there and I don’t wanna steal, but I actually really freaking want them.”
While listing for the dahlias, I walked up to them and had a look and discovered the most magical card inviting me to take the vase of beauty with me!
How amazed and delighted I was that the universe read my mind, and manifested for me exactly the one thing that I didn’t know how I was going to get.
So of course , I took em.
They were exactly the flowers I wanted and needed to keep me company as I sold my new skin care line for the first time in this beautiful community.
Thank you, Monterey Bay Dahlia Society for creating magic. I don’t think my words can express the delight of the synchronicity that you helped manifest in my world, and in our community as a result of your kindness.
I saw one of your bouquets next to Grocery Outlet in Santa Cruz right after walking back from a therapy appointment. I noticed it, thought "that's unusual" (in a good way), and decided to take it. "Am I lonely enough," I thought, "and do I deserve this?" I am, and I do, I realized. At therapy, we were talking about things that are "meant to be" or just "happen to be," and I'm glad the bouquet happened to be where I happened to be.
I was feeling lonely, and I like flowers, but they are never given to me and I never much get them for myself. So, it was really nice to take it home and show my cats. They are very interested! I don't think Sumo (the blind one) has ever been around flowers before, and he seemed happy to experience them. Valerie looks less than enthused in the picture, but that's just her grumpy face--that little potato loves flowers.
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you, stranger, for the thing you put out into the world to be found. I'm glad it found me.
I came across this lovely bouquet after my daily morning walk around the harbor. It has been in my dining room this morning as a tribute to my 31-year-old son Nicholas who recently passed away. I am re-gifting the bouquet this afternoon to my friend & her husband who is battling stage 4 cancer. I am sure it will bring a little sunshine into their day. Thank you so much for bringing some light & love into our lives.
"Found” these flowers on a bus stop bench on 41st Ave in Capitola close to the Begonia Plaza “shopping mall”. I was taking my daily walk with my dog and on the return part of the walk I passed that bus stop bench again and saw the bouquet and the attached explanation and decided to give these beautiful flowers a home.
They are bringing me much joy and thank you all for giving me this opportunity to have a bouquet of dahlias in my life.
Thank you for leaving this beautiful bouquet in Aptos! I’ve been eyeing it for a few days and finally grabbed it. What a joyful act!
I found a bouquet today outside of the Aptos Starbucks! What a beautiful bouquet and gesture! I gave the flowers to my mother, who gave them a home on her mantle. What an awesome way to put a smile on someone’s face. Thank you so much for doing this. You definitely made our day.
I found this beautiful Dahlia bouquet when walking my dog last Thursday, on the porch of Valencia Hall. What a lovely surprise, and it is made of my loves favorite flower! Not only did it make my day finding it, but also her day when she came home after work to it!
We have marked our calendar for the dahlia show at the Capitola mall on 9/02 and 9/03! Thank you for this “lonely bouquet, beautiful surprise!”
What a delight it was to discover this beautiful bouquet at the arbor in La Selva Beach on my morning bike ride around the town. I enjoyed it for a few days and then brought it to a friend’s house knowing they would love the idea of sharing the bounty of flowers in this way - and they were thrilled!
Thank you for making my day
Happy 91st Birthday Mom!
Roger and I found your lovely little bouquet while out walking dogs in Moss Landing
Such a sweet little surprise - thank you
Hi! What a wonderful bouquet of Dahlias I found at Freedom USPS. It was almost closing time and I needed to mail a Pkg. It was such a nice surprise to walk out with this pretty bouquet! They are sitting with a sweet bird here in Corralitos.
Thank you for making my "crazy end of a day" enjoyable with fresh, local flowers to bring home!!
I found this gorgeous bouquet in Ryan Ranch located in Monterey. They definitely brought a smile to my face!