By Dianna Troyer
Instead of choosing from a palette of paints, residents in a small town in central Idaho selected colorful flowers to create a living mural from spring through fall.
Ablaze with a rainbow of colors, a long flowerbed at the entrance to Moore, Idaho is so enchanting that motorists on Highway 93 in the Lost River Valley often stop to take photos.
“Nothing makes me happier than seeing flowers bloom and watching people’s reaction to them,” said Shelley Beal, who spearheaded the project that started about three years ago. “There’s no better way to spend a day than digging in the dirt—planting flowers or weeding a flowerbed.”
About 30 feet long and 6 feet wide, the flowerbed embodies the heart of the farming and ranching community of 180 where volunteerism flourishes. Residents didn’t apply for a beautification grant; they simply dug in and did it, pooling their skills and resources.
“It’s been a blast watching it all come together with so many people donating their time and use of their equipment,” Beal said. “I planted flowers that will bloom at all stages of our growing season.”
During spring, golden daffodils, red tulips, and creamy trollius thrive despite occasional snow. Summer flowers that continue blooming through autumn include purple asters, black-eyed susans, zinnias, salvia, dianthus, daisies, irises, and hollyhocks. A slender weeping white spruce provides greenery year-round.
Beal envisioned the beautification project whenever she drove by.
“The town flowerbed was filled with shale, making it difficult for flowers to thrive there. I told a friend, ‘If only that shale was gone, I’d love to take care of it and see it brighten up Moore.’”
The town council approved of her idea. First, a construction contractor across the road used his heavy equipment to remove and haul away the shale. A local farmer donated rich soil. Beal’s husband, Seth, a farmer, hauled it there. Other volunteers raked it into place. Another resident donated and delivered some amber-colored landscaping boulders.
With the ground prepared, Beal transplanted countless flowers, mostly hardy perennials from her home.
Another resident dug a trench enabling a waterline to extend from a nearby building to the flowerbed. Beal regularly watered the flowers until a drip system with a timer could be installed.
Last year, her grown children and grandchildren fortified the soil by spreading forty-two five-gallon buckets of compost. A local Ag supply store provided fertilizer.
“The perennials are really getting established and filling in,” she said. “It’s been a really, really, fun project—better than what I envisioned.” ISI
