‘Petal it Forward’: Lodi shop spreads positivity with bouquets of flowers

LODI, Wis. — The owners of a newly-opened flower shop in Lodi spread some love around their Columbia County community on Wednesday as part of a nationwide effort to spread kindness.

Prairie Winds Flower Market opened on Main Street at the same location as a former flower shop.

The new shop’s origins began with a greenhouse in the town of Leeds several years ago, owners Allie Stone and her mom Joan Olson explained. Eventually, their efforts — like their plants — grew, and when they saw the flower shop location in Lodi was for sale, they jumped on it.

“We love flowers so much and what they can do and offer people that we wanted to continue to have that in Lodi and continue to just share in those experiences and bring a sense of joy,” Stone said.

After a warm reception from the Lodi community, Stone and Olson decided to give back as part of a nationwide campaign known as “Petal it Forward,” which aims to spread positivity and kindness while showing the power of flowers.

“We decided we were just going to go for it,” Stone said with a laugh.

So on Wednesday, the mother-daughter duo handed out bouquets two at a time to teachers as well as employees at city hall and the police station with the condition that recipients share them with others to create an even bigger impact.

“There is some research that says the person receiving the flowers gets the joy, but the person giving the flowers gets just as much joy giving as receiving,” Olson said.

As a teacher herself, Stone said she wanted her peers in the Lodi School District to feel appreciated for their hard work, especially after a tumultuous few years.

“It’s just nice to be able to spread kindness through flowers and celebrate our heroes in this community for sure,” she said.

In total, 578 businesses across 49 states, Washington, D.C., and three other countries took part in the Petal it Forward effort Wednesday, according to the Society of American Florists.