Flower power

POLSON — Downtown Polson wouldn’t be the same without the hanging flower baskets that add an eye-catching pop of color as you head down Main Street.

The Polson Chamber of Commerce beautification committee provides the flower baskets through donations from locals.

“It’s really a work of the community,” Twila Delaney, owner of Delaney’s Landscape Center, said. “We just grow them.”

She said her crew at Delaney’s begins growing the baskets in mid-February.

Zina Swanson and Beverly Carlson spearheaded the project in the early 90s, Chip Kurzenbaum said.  At the time, Kurzenbaum was on the chamber’s board of directors and provided the “muscle” needed to get permission to hang the original 10 baskets.  He said the following year, the number of baskets doubled and has grown ever since.  

Kurzenbaum added that the chamber’s beautification committee stemmed from Swanson and Carlson’s efforts to keep Polson picturesque.

Polson City Parks staff then takes charge of the upkeep of the flowers. Aneena Antiste and Forrest Niemeyer get up each morning at 5 a.m. to water the 71 baskets scattered around Polson.

Antiste has watered the baskets for the past two years.  This year she waters the baskets Monday through Wednesday, and for two and a half hours she can be found downtown as the suns comes up. She said she enjoys being up to watch the sunrise.

“It’s kind of peaceful because it’s quiet downtown,” she said.

She said last year her favorite baskets were hung by the tribal health building, but said her preference is always changing as the baskets keep growing.  For now, her favorite baskets are the two hanging by the Salvation Army.

Antiste said she receives many compliments while she is watering, from people saying to keep up the good work.

“(The baskets) are really cool because you water them and you think I did this,” she said. “I watered them and I helped them grow.”

Antiste may tend to flowers by day, but she also helps to keep the city parks spic and span.  During the evenings she takes out the trash and sorts the recycling from the parks and the bins that line Main Street.

Younger people tend to recognize her when she is out and about, she said.

“They say, ‘Hey, you water flowers, don’t you?”

Niemeyer said it’s the opposite for him, that to many Polson residents he goes unnoticed.

“If you’re an early riser, you would be one of the few that would recognize us,” he said.

Niemeyer grew up in Polson and after living in other places such as Alaska, he decided to move back home to Montana and put down roots.

A student of Kaplan University studying environmental policy and management, Niemeyer is competing an internship with the parks department.  His duties along with watering the baskets include opening and closing the city parks Thursday through Saturday.  

Niemeyer said that he and Antiste work closely with Delaney to ensure each basket gets enough water and together they implement a fertilizer schedule to make sure the baskets look their best all summer long.

Niemeyer credits Delaney’s for creating the astonishing arrangements and said he feels honored to maintain them.  His favorite basket is the one near the old Hallmark store.  Its purple flowers cascade out of the basket and come down to a point, which is why he likes it more than all the rest, including the six new baskets near the Salish.

Even though he works every weekend, Niemeyer said he wouldn’t ask for a different job.

“I’ve never felt more content with a line of work, ever,” he said.

Getting up early allows him to see the sun rise over the lake every morning and reminds him why he returned to Polson, Niemeyer said.  

He and Antiste both say they love being the people to wake up and smell (and water) the flowers.