Flowers brighten up city for summer

COEUR d'ALENE - To keep it booming, keep them blooming. Once again, the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association is seeking sponsors for the popular summer flower basket program that will place 161 bright displays of petunias along Sherman and Lakeside avenues and side streets.

COEUR d'ALENE - To keep it booming, keep them blooming.

Once again, the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association is seeking sponsors for the popular summer flower basket program that will place 161 bright displays of petunias along Sherman and Lakeside avenues and side streets.

"I looked at them three weeks ago, and they look wonderful and healthy," said Terry Cooper, Downtown Association manager. "The businesses want to hold on to (the program). They love it. It adds beauty to the downtown area."

All that beauty and color come at a price of $12,000 to $13,000, and because of the economy only about $7,000 to $8,000 of that has been raised so far. So the call is again going out for donations in any amount. Sponsorships are also available at the $100, $125, $200, $500 and $1,000 levels.

At 7:30 a.m. Wednesday the baskets will begin going up, as they have for nearly a decade, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

"It creates a wonderful environment," Cooper said. "People relax and enjoy walking because downtown is clean and vibrant."

The baskets will include the same petunias as last year, with one additional color. Royal blue, Bordeaux, magenta and mini silver flowers will festoon the baskets that hang from lamp posts throughout the summer.

For the second straight year, Aspen Nursery is preparing the baskets. Terrie Swope designed them for the Downtown Association, and is keeping a close eye on their care.

"She will check them out during the year," said Dave McKee, owner of the nursery.

One change this year will be slightly larger baskets for the block between Fourth and Fifth streets, where a "wind tunnel" effect of warm air dried out the smaller 16-inch baskets last summer.

"We are trying to adjust to the environment, the wind and the sun," McKee said. "The ultimate is to get the best color. We are on a learning curve."

The baskets are good for more than the businesses downtown. All summer long, people who see them inquire on where they came from, boosting sales at Aspen.

"People come in all the time and want the same colors," Swope said.

"They want the Coeur d'Alene baskets," McKee added.

Watered every morning beginning at 5 a.m., the baskets are cared for well by the association, Swope said.

Even at that early time of day, the watering team is constantly asked about what flowers are in the baskets, and what type of fertilizer is used, Cooper said.

"Joggers, walkers, people driving to work, stop in the middle of the street," he said.

This year, a fact sheet will be provided to the watering team to speed up the process.

Aspen has been a perfect partner in the program, Cooper said, and fair in their pricing.

"They are willing to support the Downtown Association," he said. "They have made it easy to work with them."

Information: http://www.cdadowntown.com or 667-5986