Royal Oak florist leaves surprise flowers with notes of hope

"I'm a third generation florist, my great grandmother owned Elma Boyd flower shop in Detroit, both my mom and dad were florists," said Jody Costello.

So it wasn't surprising when seven years ago Jody Costello opened J. Costello Designs in Royal Oak.

"I started this year with an absolute bang in January with the biggest wedding I've ever done," she said.

But by the time March rolled around it was a different story. Not surprisingly everyone cancelled their events when the coronavirus made its way to the US.

This florist quickly realized it was time to switch gears.

"I started making bouquets and arrangements, selling plants online," she said. "People were more than hungry for flowers. They had been in their homes, they wanted something beautiful to look at all day. The response was super overwhelming."

But Jody wanted to do more

"I had seen all of these people making masks and doing porch concerts," she said. "So I thought would could I do? I had some extra flowers one day, I wrapped them up in little bouquet, had a little piece of chalk and put them outside my studio."

"It's actually interesting people almost don't want to take them sometimes," she said. "They are running by, look at them and then run back and look at them. It has been bringing such joy to people."

A surprise bouquet, and a sweet little note.

"If you're having a hard day, and you decide to go for a walk and find a little bunch of flowers, maybe that changes your moment," Jody said.

"I think flowers make people happy for sure."