‘It brings us happiness to plant native things.’ Business a bright spot in community

Dawn Bly is keeping Olathe in bloom by transforming her front yard into a pick-your-own flower farm.

“We like to say to people we’re bringing country flowers into the suburbs,” she said.

Although she grew up on a farm in the Ozarks, Bly has been living in a suburban Olathe neighborhood for years. It was the pandemic that prompted her to get back to her roots. She was homeschooling her daughter and using the garden as a focal point for lessons.

“I’d already started doing vegetable gardening in the front yard, but I realized we needed more flowers to attract more pollinators,” Bly said.

The garden became a conversation piece with her neighbors. She’d been giving away bouquets of flowers, and that expanded into her business, aptly named My Front Yard Flower Farm, in May 2022.

Anyone who wants to come and cut their own bouquet has to make an appointment in advance via Bly’s website. When you arrive, she gives you a branded cup and offers advice on how and what to cut. You just have to bring your own shears.

Initially, Bly was concerned that the business might disturb her neighbors. Earlier this year, she bumped into a neighbor and realized that it wasn’t going to be a problem.

“I did not want to disturb this wonderful community that we’ve got going here and the peace and quiet that we generally have, so we keep it pretty low-key. She didn’t even know that we had actually started and had been in business for over a year, so I thought that that was a success,” Bly said.

Although the farm is not certified organic, Bly doesn’t use pesticides, preferring to stay “as natural as possible.” Last year, she introduced native varieties of praying mantis to the garden to help with pest control.

Bly puts a lot of thought into her garden, researching what plants are native to the area and trying to pick ones that will do well in the Kansas City area climate. She also looks for flowers that will stay fresh in the vase for a long time. At the same time, she wants her choices to benefit all the insects and other critters that might interact with her garden.

“It brings us happiness to plant native things,” Bly said. “It brings us happiness to see the pollinators and the monarchs and the other butterflies come through the area, and it’s a real joy to teach the kids in the neighborhood and the kids of the people who come by what they can do to make their yards a more friendly place.”

She recently installed bioswales to catch water runoff and use it to irrigate her garden.

Typically, the flower farm is open from April through the end of July. Bly said the season starts with daffodils and ends with zinnias, but there are plenty of other blooms, such as hollyhocks and snapdragons, in-between.

It’s hard for her to pick favorites. For Bly, the best flowers are “whatever’s blooming at the moment that didn’t cause me trouble.”

Her yard isn’t just flowers. Bly makes sure to grow filler plants that can supply the extra greenery you’d see a typical bouquet. One that she particularly likes to add is rosemary.

For those who don’t have the time or energy to pick flowers, Bly will make bouquets for customers to pick up at her house.

Ashley Smith, owner of Milagro Spa in Overland Park, is a regular customer of that service.

“The best part of her flowers is that because she cuts them the morning I pick them up, they last for at least two weeks,” Smith said.

Sometimes the arrangements even stay fresh for more than three weeks, Smith said.

“They also smell delicious, because there’s always some herbs in there.”