Urban Gardens: Florist Sarah Nixon Grows Her Flowers in the Neighbors’ Yards
In 2002, Sarah Nixon planted a cutting garden in the backyard of her rented house in Toronto’s West End. She began selling her flowers, naming her burgeoning bouquet business My Luscious Backyard. But while demand increased, Sarah’s plot didn’t: she needed more land. Her solution? Instead of driving out of the city to leased land or uprooting her family to the country, she started growing in the gardens of her neighbors, trading her labor for their garden space.
Photography by Sarah Nixon except where noted.
With a home of her own and ten other plots planted for the 2017 season, Sarah has a burgeoning business that still maintains a tiny carbon footprint; she grows locally and sells locally. She grows flowers in gardens that range from the classic semi-detached city front plot of 15 by 15 feet to a few larger lots. “Most people choose to have the flowers in the front yard, so I try not to have anything too ‘pickable’ close to the street,” she says.
Sarah’s…
