Does Main Street seem a little more colorful this summer? It’s not your imagination!
In 2022, the city of Franklin worked with an urban development expert to evaluate the historic downtown district. One intriguing recommendation was to add more decorative planting along Main Street, as street flowers encourage guests to linger and shop more at local stores and restaurants.
The Downtown Franklin Association (DFA) immediately began strategizing how to add more living color to downtown’s streetscape, partnering with the city and local small business Container Creations for “Flowers on Main” in 2023. The campaign provides basic container gardens for the merchants, in hopes of rallying as many as possible to install and/or enhance flower displays in front of their stores and restaurants.
The Heritage Foundation has worked to supply potted flowers next to the benches along Main Street, to be refreshed and maintained seasonally by Container Creations. The city of Franklin is also enhancing the planters and hanging baskets that adorn downtown lampposts. Ten new baskets were added in 2023, for a total of 32, as well as five new landscaped beds containing an average of 300 plants apiece. Main Street merchants are encouraged to add their own floral flair to the streetscape as well. To that end, DFA sponsored a contest for the public to vote on their top three favorite floral displays in the latter half of June.
"Embracing the beauty of flowers throughout our Historic Downtown Main Street is not just an aesthetic choice. It's an act of nurturing our community and supporting our local merchants,” said Julie Walton Garland, owner of Walton’s Antique & Estate Jewelry and a past promotions chair of DFA. “As a Franklin native and third-generation business owner, I've experienced firsthand the transformative power of these blooms, breathing life and color into our streets, captivating visitors and instilling a sense of pride in our shared legacy."
As a division of the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County, the Downtown Franklin Association is a nationally accredited Main Street America program, invested in supporting the promotion, economic vitality, organization (connection of stakeholders), and design of our special district. The DFA supports the continued revitalization and purposeful evolution of downtown Franklin, in the context of historic preservation, by maintaining a diverse economic base, promoting a unique local shopping experience, fostering accessible and attractive public spaces, and forging partnerships across all sectors.
With the installations and online polls complete at the end of June, guests can now enjoy a leisurely stroll down Main Street, relax among the ambient flower displays next to the benches, and view the contest winners and merchant displays online at DowntownFranklinTN.com/FlowersOnMain.