Delora Blanchard and her husband, Philip, shared a deep passion for flowers and gardening. They often joked about setting up a roadside stand to sell flowers, and they even suggested it as a fun summer job for their daughters—though the girls weren't exactly thrilled by the idea.

One day, Philip came home with exciting news: a longtime local garden center was retiring. He enthusiastically declared, "Now's the time!" That very day, they decided to open their own garden center. The problem? It was April 6th.

• ·  Time is of the essence
• ·  Location, location, location
• ·  Premium products
• ·  Business partnerships
• ·  Family and friends

It was April 6th, and with early spring arriving and May just around the corner, we realized that if we wanted to open our garden center in 2022, we needed to be up and running by Memorial Day weekend. At that point, we had no property, no vendors, and no concrete plan. So, where to begin?

On that very day, Phil and his brother had closed on a property and came home with a property idea from their Realtor. We examined it the next day and thought it could work.

Our next challenge was determining what products to offer and where to source them. Fortunately, a landscaping friend of Phil’s provided a crucial contact who would become key to our success. We remain deeply grateful to him. However, on April 7th, we were still ahead of ourselves.

The real challenge was translating our dreams and ideas into action. By Friday, I realized that we needed a business plan before our upcoming bank appointment. I spent the entire weekend crafting the plan, trying to turn our vision into reality. On Monday, Phil arranged a bank meeting for that afternoon. By Tuesday, we received confirmation of a partnership with the bank, allowing us to proceed with the property purchase. On Wednesday, we made an offer, which was quickly accepted. Reality set in: we had just six weeks until opening day!

Balancing this with my full-time job, I worked tirelessly to order products, find vendors for interior supplies, set up a computer system, and make decisions about shade structures, tables, benches, branding, and hiring.

We were incredibly fortunate to have supportive friends and family who helped with everything from removing a large cottonwood tree and setting up the shade structure to building our desk and preparing for our opening day. Additionally, in those six weeks, we managed to juggle Drake Relays, State Track, my oldest daughter’s high school graduation, and my youngest’s foot surgery the Friday before opening.

Despite the whirlwind, we opened as planned on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend 2022. We are profoundly grateful for this adventure and the incredible support we received along the way.