Bismarck woman grows exotic flowers in her backyard

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Shari Glasser has been gardening for more than a decade. However, a few years ago, it became more than just a hobby. Despite the wind and winter, she’s successfully grown exotic flowers in North Dakota.

Just a few years ago, her land was empty. Over time, Glasser has filled a portion of it with exotic flowers that you wouldn’t normally find in North Dakota, like delphinium and lisianthus, which take seven months to grow from seed. That includes lupine, liatris, and dahlias.

Of course, Glasser grows more than just those flowers. For a long time, she just did it for fun, but a few years ago when she was struggling with infertility, gardening became so much more than just a pleasant pastime.

“It was a great way just to distract myself, and just seeing the beauty— I’ve always been an outdoors person,” Glasser said.

Glasser said she loves a challenge when it comes to gardening; growing the flowers she does in North Dakota isn’t easy. She fights against the wind using netting, and when it gets cold, a double-layered low-tunnel system. Glasser said over time, more and more people started asking her for flowers to include in their bouquets, which is what inspired her to make her business, Bogie’s Blooms, official.

Janelle Vaneckhot at Love Always Floral is one of those customers.

“It was brought to my attention that she grew wonderful dahlias, really beautiful varieties, novelty stems, a lot of things that I hadn’t seen any other woman growing in Bismarck,” Vaneckhot said.

She said customers go wild for Glasser’s flowers; she said they’re much better quality than what can be bought wholesale. Glasser is in the process of building a greenhouse so she can grow even more of her flowers.

You can buy Glasser’s flowers either at the Bismarck farmers’ market or through her website. If you want to buy them at the market, you’ll need to go early, because Glasser said she usually sells out within an hour or two of arriving.

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