Melanie Harrington started the Dahlia May Flower Farm in 2014 and works as the owner, grower and creative director. Photo by Maria Toews, QNet News
By Maria Toews
BELLEVILLE – Bringing joy to nursing homes through flowers has been one of Melanie Harrington’s lifelong pleasures. Now she’s doing it as part of her work.
Harrington is the owner and operator of Dahlia May Flower Farm in Trenton. When she was just 18 months old her mother became very ill and ended up in hospital. Twenty years later, her mother was then placed into a long-term care home. She stayed there for approximately five years before she passed away.
During that time, Harrington says she remembers bringing fresh flowers to her mother’s room with her father.
“I knew the joy that it brought her and I knew that other residents would come in and visit her just to see the flowers and it always brightened up things for the staff.”
The joy that came from this gift was something Harrington loved to see so when she realized they had some extra flowers at her farm this past February, she decided to make them into bouquets and sent them to the local nursing home that her mother went to.
“I thought it would just be a really lovely way to brighten up things for the residents and just surprise them,” she said.
She gave more than 50 flower arrangements to Trent Valley Lodge where her mother had spent the last five years of her life.
“The residents were just beside themselves. They were just ecstatic over it.”
The joy that came from the residents because of this gift sparked an idea in Harrington’s mind.
“It planted the seed for me to see if there was a way that we could do this in a larger way throughout the community,” she said.
This started Dahlia May’s flower initiative to send individual flower bouquets to every resident in every local nursing home as well as to the staff.
“It felt like March was the right time to do it because it was marking the one year of the COVID pandemic. It felt like just a really nice way to brighten people’s days up.”
COVID has impacted everybody in Canada and one of the groups hit hardest are people living and working in long term care homes.
Anita Garland, director of E.J. McQuigge Lodge nursing home in Belleville, says that when she heard about this idea she accepted these flowers into the residence with excitement.
“It has been a very long and difficult year for everybody in long term care so having this little ray of hope and joy was something that would be wonderful and awesome for the residents to share.”
This flower initiative has been a spark of light in the darkness for these homes.
“It just was a buzz of joy throughout the whole home as we were delivering them from room to room,” said Garland.
The residence received these bouquets on March 3 and was the first official home to get flowers through this project.
One of the residents of E.J. McQuigge Lodge is 90-year-old Helen Holgate-Reid who has been in the home for nearly six years.
The flowers “just made us feel so happy inside. It was just a wonderful thing,” said Holgate-Reid.
E.J. McQuigge Lodge took pictures of the residents with their bouquets and sent them as a thank you to Dahlia May. Helen Holgate-Reid is in the top right picture. Photo courtesy of Anita Garland
“It’s hard to explain how you felt; it was just so beautiful. The flowers were beautiful, they were fresh and just so nice.”
As the next flower delivery is happening on March 24 and the plans for more deliveries after that are being made, Harrington hopes to continue to spread joy and happiness to nursing homes just like she did for her mother.
“The community support has been huge and with the donations we’ve received we’re hoping we can keep the momentum up … and see if we can do this year-round to support the residents in long term care.”
As flowers spread and blossom this spring, Harrington’s flower initiative is spreading across local nursing homes and blossoming joy in the workers and residents’ daily lives.
“They were surprised and shocked that somebody would do all this for them and they were so grateful. They were thrilled and same with the staff. They were very happy that they were recognized as well,” said Garland.
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