Downtown Coeur d'Alene expands Flags and Flowers with more baskets, flags
Downtown Coeur d’Alene hung 220 flower baskets and 90 flags downtown, a bigger spring display that merchants say helps sell the city’s image.
Volunteers and staff have pushed downtown Coeur d’Alene’s Flags and Flowers display to its largest size yet, adding 50 more flower baskets and 20 more American flags for a total of 220 baskets and 90 flags across the city core.
The expansion, which cost more than $6,400, is more than a seasonal cleanup project. Downtown Association executive director Emily Boyd said the added baskets in places such as Rotary Centennial Park and along Lakeside Avenue were meant to give businesses more opportunities to frame storefronts with color during the busy summer stretch. The association says the effort is funded through donations and is part of how downtown presents itself to residents and visitors.
The program’s broader mission is tied to downtown identity. The Downtown Coeur d’Alene website describes the district, founded in 1888, as home to more than 125 retail stores, restaurants and professional businesses. It also says the association works to keep downtown as the recognized heart of a vibrant community through promotional events and place-making efforts, including Flags & Flowers and the annual lighting of downtown.
The flowers themselves are a behind-the-scenes operation that begins months earlier. Aspen Nursery, based in Post Falls and serving Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, grows the petunias starting in February so they are ready for installation in May. The baskets, which hang about 15 feet above the ground on green light poles, are then maintained by the Downtown Association’s maintenance team for the next four months. KREM reported that timeline as part of the 2026 expansion.
The installation also depended on volunteers. Amy Warker of the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association helped lead the work, and volunteers including Beatrice Alonzo and Leighanna Keiser took part in carrying and hanging the baskets during the downtown setup. Haydn McKee of Aspen Nursery said he enjoys helping make cities look nice. The hands-on labor, visible across blocks of Sherman Avenue, underscored how much of downtown’s seasonal image is built one basket at a time.
For merchants and city leaders, the display is intended to do more than decorate a street. It is part of the downtown experience, a visual cue for foot traffic, tourism and civic pride in the center of Coeur d’Alene. This year’s larger display signals that the city is still investing heavily in the look and feel of its core as summer traffic builds around the lake.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
