After months of phone orders and no-contact deliveries, Phoebe's Garden is finally able to welcome customers in to see, smell, and shop for blooms.

"We have peonies, and roses and mint..." Lori Lessord, owner of Phoebe's Garden & Gifts, said.

Lessord, a floral artist by trade, opened Phoebe's Garden in February. She bought the former Westside Garden to do her own thing.

"We've been open since February 18, when the pandemic hit it was really crazy. It took me a few days to figure out how to make myself essential. Flowers are my medium and I create artwork with that and so every piece I make it really an expression of me," she said.

She grows a lot of her own flowers and buys from nearby flower farms. Her arrangement style is "European garden" and her flower shop, Phoebe's, is named in honor of her late grandmother.

"As a little girl I remember going to my grandparent's house and seeing all the beautiful flowers she grew. She had a love of red roses particularly so that is where the happiness comes from."

Lessord proved her business was essential during the shutdown. Mother's Day weekend she arranged and delivered more than 200 bouquets.

"I discovered that we were the way people could send their love on Easter and Mother's Day because people could not go to nursing homes or have their Easter dinners with everyone around the table, so we were the support system to share that love and to let people know they are still being thought about and cared about on a day to day basis," she said.

Phoebe's Garden is located at 4365 Buffalo Road in Chili. It's open Monday through Saturday.