Co-owners Ron and Cheryl Matthews have flowers ready to go Thursday afternoon. Flowers sit ready in vases, a cheerful respite in the outbreak. Johnson Greenhouses, like most small businesses, is making changes in the face of the coronavirus. The business owners hope to bring people happiness through flowers during the pandemic. The greenhouse owners posted on Facebook, telling people to drive up to the shop and honk their horn for a free bouquet employees would bring out. “Everybody needed something to make them happy,” owner Cheryl Matthews said. She said that she had the flowers for an event canceled because of the coronavirus. While the blooms weren’t of a quality to be sold, she didn’t want to throw them away. In a little more than an hour Saturday, the bouquets and small vases were gone, spread throughout the community. “It did us as much good as the community members who got them,” Matthews said. This is usually a busy time for the florist industry with proms, Palm Sunday and Easter services and the first wave of spring weddings. Johnson Greenhouses is working with a reduced staff. Matthews said until restrictions on events relax and the amount of business increases again, part-time employees are staying home. “We’re trying our best to keep our shop open,” Matthews said. Churches streaming services from the sanctuary are still requesting bouquets. “They want flowers in their church because it makes people happy,” Matthews said. With people social distancing and remaining in their homes, people are recognizing birthdays and loved ones through delivered flowers in instead of an in-person celebration. There have been deliveries to nursing homes where visitation is restricted. Usual deliveries to hospitals and funeral homes continue, though funeral services are limited to small gatherings of close family to meet guidelines from government […]