Success Found Among Weeds, In Twisted Way
How could the Wiedemanns have been so blind? Every time they signed a check, the message was there: weed, man.
But Frank and Lynne didn’t discover their calling until their empty checkbook demanded some creative thinking a few years ago. That’s when the tansy along the roadside became more than a noxious weed and the wild boxwood screamed, “Take me, I’m yours.”
They took it and preserved, dyed, twisted and wove it into wreaths and floral arrangements that, with a little prodding, attracted nationwide attention.
“We needed to make a living,” Frank says simply, stomping on some preserved boxwood to demonstrate its durability.
The Wiedemanns fled New Jersey in 1973, searching for a more peaceful home. They settled in Coeur d’Alene, where their budget ran out, and got by on remodeling jobs, farm work, running a restaurant.
But it never was quite enough. So Lynne decided to make fresh Christmas wreaths to sell.
“I’d go sell them on street corners in Spokane, get arrested,” Frank says, chuckling. “Then I’d try at the malls with the kids. It was pitiful.”
But popular. Their holiday business exploded from 10 wreaths to 3,000 in five years. Then, Frank convinced the new Coeur d’Alene Resort to hang a 3,000-pound fresh wreath on its parking garage at Christmas time. The wreath stretched 26 feet - nearly three stories - in diameter.
Wreaths were as much fun as work, so in 1991 the Wiedemanns dropped everything else and opened Marble Mountain Supernaturals. They collected lichen and moss, weeds and pine cones for non-holiday arrangements.
They scoured universities and extension centers for information on preserving and dyeing plants. They dipped tansy and mugwort in fuchsia, yarrow and peonies in teal. Then they wove them together, adding rose hips and pepper grass. Buyers begged for more.
About 800 Wiedemann weed wreaths sold on a home shopping channel in 10 minutes a year ago. Orders already are pouring in for Christmas. Frank and Lynne shake their heads and laugh.
“We were just trying to survive,” Frank says.
Super spaniel
Hayden’s Debbie Frain saw the hysterical little girl, the man with her and the police last week in the weedy field next door and knew the search was on for a body. She finally drummed up the courage to walk over to the field and found out the man supposedly had dumped the little girl’s new kittens.
Debbie ran home and returned with Dakota, her springer spaniel. She’d recently visited a friend with new kittens and trained Dakota to leave the little fur balls alone.
At the field, Debbie told Dakota, “kitties,” and set him loose. He snorted through the field for about 30 minutes before he found the three abandoned kittens.
Sheriff’s Deputy E.A. Anderson, who waited patiently for Dakota to do his duty, took the kittens to the animal shelter. Hope someone remembered to scratch Dakota’s belly …
What dogs
Got a real looker shedding on your back porch? Here’s a chance at fame and fortune, magazine contracts, maybe even a Maybelline commercial.
Take your rising star to Duncan’s Pet Shop in Coeur d’Alene for the annual fall fashion show. Duncan’s will supply the duds for your dog to drool on - sweaters, coats, collars - and, hopefully, a scooper crew.
Entries are due Oct. 1. Call 667-0618 for details.
Send me a picture of your pet in its best outfit and the story behind the fancy costume. Don’t forget the details - your pet’s name, breed and what he or she did to the costume when it came off.
Pound out your funniest for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; send a fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or E-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.
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