How one gardener's neighbors shared their land to help her start a flower business

When Marisa Mender-Franklin walks through any of the nine flower farms she runs in Memphis, Tennessee, her first thoughts are of gratitude. Partly for the flowers and the bees, but mostly for the support of her neighbors.

That's because members of her local Facebook Buy Nothing group shared their unused yards and gardens with her, allowing her to achieve her dream of owning a flower shop and working as an urban flower farmer.

“None of this would be possible without an immensely supportive community,” she said.

Her post read, ‘Flowers in need of a garden’

In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mender-Franklin was a teacher planning her wedding.

"I thought it would be fun to grow and design my own wedding flowers,” she said. So, the lifelong gardener planted “every square inch” of the tiny yard in front of her rental home with seeds and added pots along the walkway and on the porch.

The experience fortified her lifelong dream of working with flowers, she said, “but I didn’t own land or have a path to owning land.”

As a member of the Buy Nothing group, she had noticed members offering unwanted furniture, household goods and other items free to people who needed them.

“Somebody once posted looking for a French horn for their kid, and within six hours, they had one,” she said. “If the group can do that,” she reasoned, “then certainly there’s someone who has a garden they can’t use and would let me grow flowers there.”

In her post, she expressed her desire to grow and sell flowers, and promised to be a good tenant and provide the owner with weekly bouquets. “Within 5 minutes, my phone started pinging like crazy,” she said. Within a week, she had received 40 offers of free places to grow flowers.

That first year, 2021, Mender-Franklin selected four plots. Members of the online group began dropping off cardboard and vases on her porch.

"People even volunteered to help weed or plant,” she said.

Today, she runs her flower business full-time. She owns the Midtown Bramble and Bloom flower shop, oversees the nine farm plots of various sizes and employs 10 people. Last year, the business held 57 workshops, and provided flower arrangements for 44 weddings and large events.

The inspiration was a Canadian flower gardener

Mender-Franklin said she knows of similar land-share situations in other cities. She was inspired by the example of Sarah Nixon, who, from 2001 to 2021, planted flowers in neighbors’ yards in Toronto and sold weekly flower-bucket and arrangement subscriptions. Nixon also sold flowers at farmers’ markets and a specialty grocery store, and provided flowers for weddings.

She started her business, My Luscious Backyard, the analog way, by leaving letters of introduction in neighbor’s mailboxes that proposed the barter of land use in exchange for upkeep of their gardens.

“I was obsessed with growing flowers for my own enjoyment, and my own backyard was full,” said Nixon. “But I noticed some of my neighbors begrudgingly mowing their lawns and not seeming to use their properties.”

The arrangements can be mutually beneficial

In Memphis, Mender-Franklin’s team transformed the lawns and neglected gardens into beds and rows of flowers. Along with the bouquets and other perks, the homeowners are able to enjoy flower gardens without the responsibility of maintaining them.

The agreements are formalized with leases that spell out everything from boundaries to water costs.

Karen Golightly, who owns one of Mender-Franklin’s original plots, said she didn't hesitate when she saw the post on the Buy Nothing group. The weekly bouquets she receives are lovely, she said, “but the biggest benefit is that it created a community for me."

“We have a garden walk in the neighborhood, and I’ve come to know other neighbors and gardeners that I wouldn’t otherwise know. And, of course, there’s Marisa’s staff and Marisa, as well,” Golightly said.

One of the first plots that Mender-Franklin worked on came with no water source, she said. She offered to pay the homeowner next door to run a water line over from his faucet, and he, a gardener, set it up for her.

“People like to help make dreams come true. It’s that feeling of connection that we all really need," she said. “So often when we talk about community, we view it in terms of helping other people. And we forget that being part of an equal community means that you also have to ask for help.”

To give back, Mender-Franklin launched the Flowers for Good program, which donates flowers to local organizations, schools and charities. Her shop has a free seed library for vegetables and native wildflowers.

“It’s such a gift to the community to have their land turned into a farm," said Nixon. "And all the pollinators, birds and wildlife change the area."

“It’s also a lot of work,” she added.

Mender-Franklin knows that to be true. “We run on community,” she said. “Well, community and LaCroix and an unhinged belief in our ability to figure it out.”

How you can start a land-sharing network

If your flowers or vegetables are in search of a garden, these online resources can help:

Regional and local gardening groups and buy-nothing groups on social media can link neighbors willing to share tools, harvests or garden beds.

Matchmaking services such as Shared Earth and My Gardens Spot connect those seeking land on which to farm or garden with landowners seeking to share property.

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Kristin M. Hall contributed to this story from Memphis, Tennessee.

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Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

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For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.