MOORHEAD

In Jenna Kahly’s Moorhead garden, the bouquet possibilities are endless.

On a Wednesday morning, she and her 9 ½ year old son Barent started with some big pink lisianthus blossoms. As they walked around the garden bursting with blooms, they filled the bouquet with the small yellow flowers of statice and some velvety bunny tail grass to fill in the gaps.

“When doing flowers, we want to always do odd numbers, because if you do even numbers, it looks unbalanced,” Kahly told Barent as they decided what to put in the vase.

Kahly, who works as the West Fargo Public Library director, is letting others get in on the artistry of flower arrangement this summer by opening her front yard garden to everybody in the community to pick flowers. Visitors are welcomed into the garden to make bouquets for free during its open hours: 5-8 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Her address is 1201 5th Ave. S., Moorhead.

“We hope people use this as an opportunity to spread some joy and kindness,” Kahly said. “Like that quote — in a world where you can choose to be anything, choose to be kind.”

In summers past, neighborhood kids had always been welcome to pick flowers and vegetables growing in the yard. Kids especially liked picking flowers to bring home or give to neighbors, Kahly said.

“We kind of had this idea to expand on the cut flower garden in the front yard and decided to formalize what our neighborhood was doing already,” Kahly said.

The middle of the garden is lush with perennial plants like yarrow and anise hyssop. Rows of annuals, like zinnias and violas, line the sides of the garden. Scattered throughout are edible plants like tomatoes, peppers, purple basil, dill and mint.

When choosing plants, Kahly looked for variety. She wanted plants that attract pollinators, like bees and butterflies, as well as some edible plants to feed people. The flowers picked for the garden have staggered bloom times, so something new blooms in the garden each week.

Kahly bought many of the plants from Bloomfield Garden Center in Sabin, Minnesota. At the end of their season, the nursery also donated some plants to help fill the garden, Kahly said.

During the first weekend the garden was open, around 30 people visited. While Kahly knew some of the visitors, most who came had heard of the garden through word of mouth or Facebook.

“It really has been, for the most part, people that we hadn’t met yet, so that’s been really delightful,” Kahly said.

Barent helps welcome visitors and answer questions about the garden, Kahly said. Barent said it’s fun to see the garden grow.

“It’s really cool to see the progress that they make over the weeks, and the rain really helps,” Barent said.

Before this spring’s garden expansion, much of the yard had already been converted into a garden. Gardening in the front yard has been a game-changer for meeting the neighbors, Kahly said.

“If you are out in your front lawn, then you see people going by on their bikes, walking their dogs, pushing their strollers and you actually get to meet your neighbors and have a conversation,” Kahly said. “So I would really encourage front-yard gardening.”

Kahly said she debated what to call the garden until a neighbor referenced her house as “the flower house.”

“If that’s what neighbors were already calling it, then that’s what it is,” Kahly said.

Kahly asks that people visiting The Flower House stay on the paths between rows of flowers. When cutting flowers, do not cut off the whole plant.

A cabinet at the end of the garden holds empty glass jars to hold bouquets and scissors to cut flowers. People can donate clean, label-free mason jars by leaving them in the cabinet.

More information about the garden is available on The Flower House Facebook page.