BY KATIE HENDRICK VINCENT Snapshot
TRUE COLORS > In late April, weeks into quarantine, when the world at large wrestled with feelings of angst and fatigue, Cara Lard had an idea to bring some happiness to her hometown, while simultaneously flaunting her creativity and artistry, and highlighting her identity as a proud businesswoman who appreciates her community. Inspired by Luft Balloon, whose Instagram account has recently
featured bright, elaborate balloon arches, Lard, the owner of Mum’s Flowers in Whitefish, Montana, decided to construct her own — an enormous rainbow — in front of her shop’s window. “To me, rainbows have always been a symbolism of hope and the promise of sunshine after a storm,” she said. She dubbed the project, “Rainbows of Hope,” shared a picture of the finished product on social media and invited the public to check it out. Over the course of a week, scores of people visited the heartwarming
display, where they took selfies, family and graduation portraits, and other whimsical photos, with many striking a “jump for joy” pose. Mum’s Flowers was tagged dozens and dozens of times in Instagram stories and posts, and exposure flourished on Facebook as well, where Lard’s photo received 213 likes, 24 shares and 33 positive comments, such as “This totally brightened my day,” “You gave so many smiles during a weird time,” and “What a wonderful statement of beauty!”
RAINBOW CONNECTION Cara Lard, the owner of Mum’s Flowers in Whitefish, Montana, created a balloon arch outside her shop to help lift her community’s spirit.
Among the people publicly
gushing about the shop: Abby Doll, a local fashion influencer and blogger with more than 22,000 Instagram followers. “As Montana slowly started to open back up this week, @carasflowers, who owns one of my favorite businesses in town, @mumsflowersmt, created a giant #rainbowofhope on the side of store,” Doll captioned a recent Instagram post, where she also noted that Lard had created similar balloon installations for other businesses, including a beauty store and a jeweler, as a “welcome back” surprise when they reopened to walk- in customers. “It makes me cry when I think about the happiness and joy she is spreading to local business owners and patrons, and what a uniting and positive impact her thoughtfulness and creativity are having on our community in such an uncertain time.”
Katie Hendrick Vincent is the senior contributing writer and editor of Floral Management.
kvincent@safnow.org
The magazine of the Society of American Florists (SAF) 13
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