Laurie Taylor’s love for gardening was cultivated at a young age when her grandfather imparted the joys of tending to plants in his Morningside bungalow. This cherished pastime left an indelible mark on Taylor, leading her to become a master gardener two decades ago and establish the Living Treasures Flower Farm in 2019.
Standing in the front yard of her taupe house on South Fairmount Street, Taylor reminisces, “My grandma was in a wheelchair, so he had outbuildings, like screened houses, and little things planted all over the place for her.” Later in life, she was able to purchase this very one-story house, built in 1930, from her parents. Here, she meticulously cultivated irises, surprise lilies, roses, perennial baby’s breath, hostas, and a variety of herbs, including chocolate mint and marjoram.
However, on September 1, a city contractor, responding to a weed abatement notice, unceremoniously cut down all of Taylor’s cherished flowers and herbs, leaving her disheartened. She expresses her frustration, “I just think it’s a misinterpretation of the weed code, because obviously they weren’t weeds. They were flowers, and they were all established flowers that have been here for so many years. As a small business owner, it’s just devastating when something like this happens, when you rely on that for your income.”
Taylor, who sells her fresh cut flowers at the Sioux City Farmers Market, to florists, and event designers, estimates her losses to be around $30,000, a staggering blow to her livelihood. This figure doesn’t even account for the countless hours she devoted to nurturing these plants.
Starting afresh
Speaking before the City Council on September 18, Taylor was emotional as she recounted the loss of her flowers and herbs. She returned to the council on October 2, announcing her intention to file a complaint with risk management.
Councilman Alex Watters, who resides in the same neighborhood as Taylor, expressed his shock, saying, “I know her and I live in this neighborhood. I’ve always driven by and I know where you have the flowers and kind of that different area. The last time I drove by, I was pretty shocked to see everything was cut so short. I knew it hadn’t been that way in 10 years.”
Taylor received her first weed abatement notice on June 21, at which point she claims to have been actively maintaining her property, including mowing, weeding, and cutting volunteer trees. She faced an unexpected setback when her chainsaw broke, which she duly informed the city about. When a city contractor eventually arrived, Taylor contends that he decimated many of her flowers and herbs. She asserts that it was still early enough in the season for the plants to recover.
For the last two decades, Taylor had transformed her property into a floral haven, stating, “Probably the last 20 years, we put up this wall and it’s always been all flowers. The south side of the house has been flowers. The north side of the house was all raspberries. It’s not like I just planted everything.” Her lament reflects not just the loss of flowers but also a profound connection to her roots and an enduring love for the land she calls home.
