Flowering Annuals Available for Community Groups

By cleaning out your garden, this will help renew it and help beautify Des Moines public spaces. Residents who are donating plant material are asked to label their plants and identify its sun requirements, height, and color of flower.

Welcome to the Flower Program

Welcome community leaders to the Neighborhood Flower Program! Thank you for volunteering to beautify Des Moines, unify your neighborhood and help keep Des Moines an award-winning place to live.

Neighborhood Flower Program

Eligibility:

The Neighborhood Flower Program is a unique partnership that allows plants are to be planted exclusively on the right-of-ways, medians, street corners, and parkways (excluding religious groups) within the city limits of Des Moines. These plants are not meant to be planted at private residences or businesses. The requesting party commits to volunteering to plant, water, and maintain approved locations for the entire year.

Find Your Neighborhood:

Individuals or groups interested in beautifying public spaces need to first contact their neighborhood association to place an order. Working through the neighborhood group will eliminate confusion on pick up date and also build relationships in your association. To find out what neighborhood association a resident belongs to, use our online tool "Show Me My House", enter your address and select from the list of valid addresses. Look in the Neighborhood section to see if a neighborhood is listed for your area. To find out more about your neighborhood visit the Des Moines Neighborhoods page and select your named neighborhood. If your neighborhood association doesn't participate in this program, please contact Park staff.

To Order:

Plan your spaces with your qualified organization, identify your volunteers and fill out the order form and volunteer waivers. Submit the form online to the City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department.

Order Deadline:

September 28, 2021 (If groups do not make this deadline, plant selection is not guaranteed.)

Pickup:

Friday, May 19^th from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 20^th from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Pickup Location:

Southeast Community Center
2501 SE Maury Street

Neighborhood Flower Program Volunteer Commitment

Volunteers are vital to the success of the program, from growing them in the greenhouse to transplanting them to the public spaces they are in. Your group will need volunteers and transportation to pick up your completed order in May at the City Greenhouse, to help plant, weed, water and maintain at each of your planting locations and to help collect the volunteer waivers, information and hours for your neighborhood volunteers participating in the flower program. These are just a few examples of help you will need thru the growing season. We also encourage you to sign-up to volunteer during the growing process by helping us in our Transplanting in the Tropics winter/spring volunteer opportunities.

All volunteers you list below or any additional volunteers that may help maintain your space for the City, must complete the volunteer waiver (password: dsm). If a minor is participating, a parent/legal guardian will need to complete their volunteer waiver (password: dsm). Please email your volunteers the link or share with them this QR code before your work begins so they can complete it.

DSM Volunteer QR

Please share the number of your donated hours and the number of volunteers participating in this program. It shows our community’s commitment and when we apply for grants it helps demonstrate your support leveraging City dollars to support programs such as these. Please input the total number of volunteers that will be helping you and the total number of hours for the season (May-October).

Flower Beds on City Property

Maintaining flower beds takes volunteer and staff time as well as resources such as water. In an effort to plan our City spaces and allocate resources effectively, all new and existing flower beds on City property such as medians, parkland, and street corners must be approved by staff. Our staff assists with plant material questions and may be able to assist with larger flower bed preparation.
If you are planting a flower bed on land not owned or maintained by the City of Des Moines, such as schools or non-profit organizations, you do not need to contact Park staff for prior approval. All plantings must be maintained in accordance to Section 102.2 of City of Des Moines Municipal Code.

The group understands by submitting this request, we are agreeing to the expectation and requirement that we will care for our requested areas throughout the entire growing season. If plants are found to be planted on private property, in violation of any terms, or are mistreating staff, we understand it may be grounds for terminating our planting agreement and volunteer service with the City.