Here’s What’s Happening in May

Sunday, May 1
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
ARBORETUM FOUNDATION FLORABUNDANCE PLANT SALE
Last day! This magnificent sale, the largest in the Puget Sound region, features dozens of top specialty nurseries and vendors selling a wide selection of choice, locally-grown plants. You’ll find trees, shrubs, beautiful conifers, native plants, vegetable starts, species and hybrid rhododendrons, favorite and rare perennials, unusual annuals, glorious groundcovers, grasses, vines, and more. Free.
The Arboretum Foundation
Warren G. Magnuson Park, Seattle, Building 30
7400 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA
For more information: http://nwf.gs/efyfLA

Saturday, May 7
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Sunday, May 8
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
SEATTLE TILTH EDIBLE PLANT SALE
Come to Seattle Tilth’s Edible Plant Sale and take advantage of the largest selection of organically, sustainably and locally grown vegetable plants in the Puget Sound region. At our festive annual gardener gathering, you’ll find over 50 varieties of organic tomatoes! Twenty types of pepper plants! Many heirloom varieties will be available, as well as an extensive selection of culinary herbs, edible flowers, and drought tolerant perennials. These irresistible plants have been hand-selected by Seattle Tilth’s garden educators to offer the best possible selection of plants that perform well in our Pacific Northwest climate. Different from our March plant sale, this event offers plants for summer gardening including “warm season” crops like tomatoes, peppers, squash and corn. It’s a beautiful sight!
Seattle Tilth
Good Shepherd Center
4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103
Phone: 206-633-0451, ext. 119
For more information: http://nwf.gs/lh5Jj1

Saturday, May 7
9:00 am – 2:00 pm
SNOHOMISH COUNTY MASTER GARDENER FOUNDATION
SPRING PLANT SALE
The primary fund raiser for the Snohomish County Master Gardener Foundation is our annual plant sale. Each year, our plant sale features an extensive selection of perennials, shrubs, trees, berries, and grasses. In addition, our sale is famous for an amazing selection of tomato varieties – old favorites, new varieties, heritage plants and more. This year, we will have 5000 tomato plants in over 150 varieties. In response to the increased interest in vegetable gardening, this year there will be an expanded selection of 4,000 herb and vegetable starts to help you get a jump on your kitchen garden. Each year, we have an interesting assortment of specialty nursery, gift and garden art vendors on hand as part of this sale.
McCollum Park
600 128th Street SE, Everett, WA 98204
For more information: http://nwf.gs/kGSbA2
Website:http://nwf.gs/kAxnoO
Phone: 425-357-6010

Saturday, May 7
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday, May 8
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
KING COUNTY MASTER GARDENER FOUNDATION
SPRING PLANT SALE
Healthy, beautiful plants at great prices! Plants of all kinds will be offered by vendors as well as plants grown by Master Gardeners themselves, including the highly popular Master Gardener tomato starts. There’s more – advice on your purchases provided by King County Master Gardeners; free parking and shuttle service to the sale; free classes; Master Gardener Diagnosticians to examine plant samples you bring from your garden; an education room with booths and information from related organizations; Children’s Center. All proceeds from the annual plant sale are used to support Master Gardener clinics, demonstration gardens, the Youth Education Program, and other Master Gardener programs. This annual plant sale is a fund-raising activity of the Master Gardener Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation that provides support for the Master Gardener program in King County.
Center for Urban Horticulture
3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle 98195
For more information: http://nwf.gs/j9P1sh

Saturday, May 7
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
WA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
CENTRAL PUGET SOUND CHAPTER PLANT SALE
Proceeds from this sale benefit the Washington Native Plant Society.
Bellevue Botanical Garden
12001 Main Street, Bellevue, WA 98005
For more information: 206-619-1073

Sunday, May 8
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
MOTHER’S DAY SOCIAL
Bellevue Botanical Garden Society
Mother’s Day at the Garden is always a wondrous day. It is a time to honor our mothers, enjoy the beauty of our gardens, and share refreshments with friends and family. This year, it is also a great time to celebrate plans for the Garden’s Ravine project, which we expect to build this year. Open house featuring light refreshments and music. This event is free and open to all.
Bellevue Botanical Garden
12001 Main Street, Bellevue, WA 98005
For more information: http://nwf.gs/klcSHI
Phone: 425-452-6826

Wednesday, May 11
6:45 pm
“THE HIGH LINE”
Patrick Cullina
Patrick Cullina, Vice President of Horticulture and Operations for Friends of the High Line, will discuss the High Line as a dynamic and emerging landscape. The High Line is a complete reuse and transformation of an abandoned industrial structure, originally constructed in 1930 to lift dangerous freight trains off the Manhattan streets, into a people friendly public park. Patrick will address how the project relates to landscape design and the meaning of our interactions with plants and the natural world.
Northwest Horticultural Society
Center for Urban Horticulture
3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle
Fee: Members $5; Non-members $10
No reservations required
For more information: http://nwf.gs/gSXz1V
Phone: 206-780-8172

Sunday, May 15
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
DUNN GARDENS WINE TASTING EVENT
This is a wonderful chance to view the renowned Dunn Gardens in all their spring glory, plus enjoy some new wines from local vintners. Guests will be able to taste a variety of fine wines from Chinook Winery, Domanico Cellars, Lodmell Cellars, Long Shadows, Lost River, Otis Kenyon and Terra Blanca Winery. Wines will be available for purchase. Stroll the gardens as you savor delicious appetizers, enjoy music by Andre Feriante, and perhaps win a raffle prize of “Treasure” baskets. All proceeds support the Dunn Gardens, a regional treasure. (Photo of Dunn Gardens Olmstead Drive by Douglas Houck)
Dunn Gardens
13533 Northshire Rd NW, Seattle, WA 98177
To reserve tickets: http://nwf.gs/mR8xba
Tickets: $50 per person
For more information: 206-362-0933 or email info@dunngardens.org
Map/Directions: http://nwf.gs/lV7v4A

Sunday, May 15
1:00 pm
“AMPLIFYING THE GARDEN WITH CONTAINERS”
Lucy Hardiman
Lucy Hardiman was to the garden born—and is a fifth generation Oregon gardener. She is the principal of Perennial Partners, a garden design collective recognized for their innovative approaches to garden design. Her garden and those of her clients have appeared in many magazines and books. A popular speaker who lectures and teaches throughout the country, she writes for regional and national publications and is a contributing editor for Horticulture Magazine. Lucy will show how a well-chosen and well-planted container becomes much more than an art object when it is used purposefully. Imagine a container as the focal point of a garden bed or as a complement to a plant vignette. An exuberant container can screen an unsightly view. A series of containers can be used to indicate transitions from one part of the garden to the next or give visual cues about how to move through a space. Containers can also provide seasonal interest in borders that are past their prime. They can become the means of showcasing special collections of plants, especially beloved tender ones that need winter protection. Free.
Joy Creek Nursery
20300 NW Watson Road, Scappose, Oregon 97056
For more information: http://nwf.gs/j2i27H
Map/Directions: http://nwf.gs/lO7par
Phone: 503-543-7474

Tuesday, May 17
7:00 pm (Doors open 6:00 pm)
“STRUCTURAL PLANT PLACEMENT: LOCATING YOUR GARDEN’S BONES”
Vanessa Gardner Nagel
Landscape designer Vanessa Nagel, author of “Understanding Garden Design” (Timber Press). This is a free program, but pre-registration is required. Seating is limited to 120. For more information, log into the Member Center and go to the Events page.
Hardy Plant Society of Oregon
Community Room
Clark County Public Utilities/Vancouver Service Center
1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Portland, OR
Free admission
To register:http://nwf.gs/lafNwd

Saturday, May 21
Sunday, May 22
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
RHODODENDRON SHOW & SALE
Bellevue Botanical Garden
Show and sale of beautiful Northwest Rhododendrons, with proceeds benefitting the Cascade Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society.
Bellevue Botanical Garden
12001 Main Street, Bellevue, WA 98005
For more information email: lscott@bellevuewa.gov
Phone: 425-452-2750

Friday, May 20 – Sunday, May 22
VEGGIE FEST
Windmill Gardens
Join us for a weekend of gifted speakers and special pricing on veggies starting with Ed Hume’s Green Club member Chat on Friday, May 20th. Green Club Member Preview Sale to follow. Our annual rollout of Tomatoes, Peppers, and assorted other veggies is not to be missed. Saturday morning kicks off our sale weekend with Marianne Binetti showing us how to combing edibles in our landscapes. Following Marianne, we are pleased to present garden designer and writer, Sue Goetz. Sue will present a fun-filled class on Potted Herb Containers.
$5 per person.
Registration Required: Call 253-863-5843 to register.
Windmill Gardens
16009 60th Street East, Sumner, WA 98390
For more information: http://nwf.gs/mPWXp8
Phone: (253) 863-5843

Show Gardens Reap Awards of Excellence

They came, they saw, they raved. The three Show Judges – Panayoti Kelaidis, Lucy Hardiman and C. Colston Burrell – bestowed eight Gold Medals on the nineteen show gardens that they judged, proclaiming it the “best garden show ever.” The 2011 show garden theme, “Once Upon a Time…Spectacular Gardens With Stories to Tell,” sowed the seeds of imagination as never before. Designers drew inspiration from both classic, beloved books and stories, such as Alice in Wonderland, Three Little Pigs and Great Expectations, along with contemporary books such as the new book, Where Gifts and Wildings Grow, by designer Susie Dingle. The main Show Judges and the media Judges gave out 36 awards of excellence in all categories throughout the show.

Karen Stefonick's contemporary garden took the coveted Founder's Cup Award for the second year.

FOUNDER’S CUP AWARD
The coveted Founder’s Cup Award, aka the “Best in Show,” went to the team of Karen Stefonick Design in Bothell, and B. Bissell General Contractor LLC in Snohomish for an unprecedented second year in a row. Their show garden, titled “A Wrinkle in Time – Gardens Not Yet Discovered,” was based on the science fiction fantasy novel, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. They also received a Gold Medal. Show Designer Cyle Eldred presented Karen Stefonick and Bill Bissell with the huge silver trophy at the Arboretum Foundation’s Preview Party the night before the show opened. Karen has had the trophy in her own office for the past year; now it will go in Bill’s office until the 2012 show.

The People's Choice Award, along with 3 other awards, went to Christianson's Nursery for their nostalgic family nursery.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Perennial favorite Christianson’s Nursery in Mount Vernon returned to the show garden floor after a few year’s hiatus with the award-winning garden “A Day Well Spent – Once Upon a Time, the Way We Used to Garden.” Their nostalgic garden evoked a simpler era when a small, charming family nursery grew plants from seeds or in their own fields, and sold them to local neighbors. They replicated in amazing detail a family nursery not unlike Christianson’s Nursery in its earliest days. Media Judges and attendees loved it, and the garden claimed four awards: the Ethel Moss People’s Choice Award, the American Horticultural Society Environmental Award, the Seattle Homes & Lifestyles Magazine Award, and the 425 Magazine Award, along with a Gold Medal.

The Arboretum Foundation won the Pacific Horticulture Society Award for their tribute to the Seattle Japanese Garden.

PACIFIC HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY AWARD
The Arboretum Foundation honored the 50^th anniversary of the Seattle Japanese Garden with their entry, “Bridging History: The Man Who Made Trees Blossom.” Their exquisite garden, designed by Phil Wood, Bob Lilly and Roger Williams  won the Pacific Horticultural Society Award. The Japanese garden featured three cherry trees that were coaxed into early bloom with the new forcing program at Windmill Gardens, in Sumner. During judging on Tuesday the trees had tight buds of blossoms, but by the following day when the show opened, the buds burst open to create an ethereal haze of pale pink in one corner of the garden. Perfection.

A charming thatched hut is one of the houses in Susan Browne's Three Little Pigs garden, which won the Fred Palmer Garden Creator's Award.

FRED PALMER GARDEN CREATOR’S AWARD
Susan Browne of Susan Browne Landscape Design dreamed up a delightful garden that replicated the homes of each of the Three Little Pigs – and the Big Bad Wolf – titled “Run Little Pigs, Run!” The straw hut, twig house, formal brick house and the wolf’s tree stump hideaway were each landscaped to suit the style of the home. I loved all the finishing details, such as the wolf’s mailbox, which even contained a catalog for some mean-looking knives. It won the Fred Palmer Garden Creator’s Award, which is an honor chosen by all of the garden creators each year, and also garnered a Gold Medal.

Courtney Goetz won the Sunset Western Living Award for her sustainable garden repurposing old materials, such as these old radiators.

SUNSET WESTERN LIVING AWARD
The Sunset Western Living Award went to Courtney Goetz for her “Paradise to be Regained” sustainable garden, based on Henry David Thoreau’s book of the same title. Courtney created the Gold Medal garden for her high school senior project. Yes, you read that correctly – Courtney is a very talented 17-year-old teen. She tackled the many challenges of designing a show garden like an experienced pro. Of course, having her mom, Sue Goetz, of Creative Gardener, as her mentor surely helped, along with past experience at many previous shows where she helped her mom as “slave labor” during move-in. I do hope she got an “A+” on her project.

Kristy Ditmore of Under the Arbor won the Best Overall Design for her Living it Up! garden

LIVING IT UP! BEST OVERALL DESIGN
You don’t have to have a large property to create a pleasing and functional garden retreat. The show’s ‘Living it Up’ display in the South Lobby featured smaller gardens to demonstrate what one can do with a small patio or condo balcony. The award for Best Overall Design and Use of Small Space went to Kristy Ditmore, owner of Under the Arbor Landscape Design, for her energizing orange-hued patio garden.

Here are all of the 2011 show gardens medal results:            

Cyle Eldred is already recruiting garden creators for the 2012 show, to be held February 8 – 12, 2012 at the Washington State Convention Center. The show’s theme is “A Floral Symphony: Gardens Take Note.” Already the region’s acclaimed garden designers are jazzed, brainstorming about the music that inspires them. How about you? If you could design a garden based on a favorite song, what would that song be? – Janet

Open & Shut Artistry with ‘My Garden Gate’ Exhibit

Show attendees admire the skilled workmanship of the metal and wood gate created by Joseph Dent, titled "Entrance to Eden."

A well-crafted garden gate sets the stage for your garden, whether it is formal, casual or any style in between. It both causes the visitor to stop and notice the details of their surroundings, and beckons them further with a sense of excited anticipation of what beauty lies ahead.

The garden show last held an exhibition of one-of-a-kind gates in 2003. Many asked about its return, so we brought it back for the 2011 Northwest Flower & Garden Show. ‘My Garden Gate’ ran the length of North Hall, next to the Plant Market, and was a huge hit with show attendees who stopped to admire the clever details in each of the 20 gates.

Elijah Burnett, of Burnett Forge, shows off his award-winning gate, titled "Forever Blossom."

The exhibit was judged by artist Mark Rudis, a welder at Green River College and a glass blower at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. He awarded points for creativity, design, color, mechanics and signage. The winner of the Best Design award went to Elijah Burnett, of Burnett Forge in Poulsbo, for his charming gate titled “Forever Blossom.”

Jim Honold won the People's Choice Award for his beautiful gate depicting a heron.

Attendees also got to vote for their favorite gate for the People’s Choice Award, which went to Jim Honold of Honold’s Ornamental Ironwork & Extraordinary Gates. Jim’s winning gate was called “Northwest Landscape.” It featured a heron wading in water, with cattails and foliage, fir trees and a mountain in the background. Made of steel, stainless steel, copper and stained glass, the gate was double-sided and illuminated from within. Jim also made the ‘Wilbur” weathervane which topped the entrance structure to the Children’s PlayGarden. The weathervane will be finding a new home at the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden.

Each of the unique garden gates was expertly hand crafted, using materials such as copper, steel, ironwood, wrought iron, wood, and, of course, plenty of recycled materials. The garden show teamed up with the students in the Edmonds Community College Horticulture Program to help install the exhibit.  Thanks also to Mutual Materials for supplying the pavers, Bedrock Industries for supplying tumbled glass, and Sound Turf for the sod.

Gates were made of many different materials, including forged steel, copper, glass and wood, and many used materials recycled from other purposes.

Gunter Reimnitz, of the Abraxas Crow Company, tells us he was inspired by watching flocks of golden finches (Washington State’s state bird) come through his neighborhood, flocking to a bird feeder. His gate, “Song Bird Gate,” was made of steel branches, with a burnt oil finish, and little songbirds all over it.

Ray Hammer at Blue Collar Artwork created a gate called “Industrial Bubbles,” made from many recycled metals found in different industries throughout Washington. Some of the materials date back to the early 1900’s logging industry. Ray’s art and architectural pieces are “inspired from the fun that comes from taking old beauty and function and creating new life.”

Lauren Osmolski is a sculptor and blacksmith with a studio in Seattle under the same name. This was her fourth year at the garden show and the first participating in a gate exhibit.  Lauren enthused, “I saw the Gate Show when I went to my first Northwest Flower & Garden Show, and I was blown away! It’s a great way to showcase the variety of approaches to metalwork and the talented and highly skilled artisans of the region.”  Lauren’s gate, titled “Thrive!” was composed of forged steel elements interconnected in an organic fashion, almost looking plant-like and alive, with a natural rust patina. 

Seven welders/artists from the Green River College in Auburn participated in the My Garden Gate exhibit. Greg Bartol, of Studio B, showed his sense of humor with a welded vegetable gate, similar to a kitchen garden. What fun to have smiling vegetables greeting you as you enter your edible garden.  Andrea Lisch created a gate called “The Old Wood Gate” but it was actually made of forged steel, and designed to swing both ways.

Many gates were based on nature themes, such as this detail from "Pinecone Gate" by Andi and Mike Flicker.

Professionally crafted steel and ironwood (also known as IPE) were the main materials used for a modern gate by Joe Clark, of Architectural Elements. It featured a replaceable art panel with choices for the art, such as bamboo, Japanese maples or dogwood patterns. The gate frame was powder coated aluminum for excellent erosion resistance, and the ironwood can provide decades of use.

Like so many of his pieces, Douglas Walker, of WaterWorks Garden Sculpture, was inspired by music for his garden gate. The “Big Band Swing Gate” lived up to its name. “I used sheet music made from copper tubing winds across the surface; while intricate circular patterns add the fill. This was a gate for the garden that can keep up the beat and swing with the best of them.” Read an earlier Garden Show Blog about Douglas’ musically-inspired works at http://nwf.gs/g2r24q.

Stilettos are not usually worn while gardening, but Sandra Ross thought they would make a fun theme for an unusual garden gate.

Sandra Ross has a confession: “I’ve always loved shoes,” she says. So the name of her company is apropos of her love – Metal Sole, and her garden gate was titled “Stilettos in the Garden Aerate the Soil.” Sandra designed and created sexy stilettos from a variety of metals. Sandra enthused, “Whimsical, funky or wild, shoes bring a smile. What could be more fun than a gate made of sexy red stilettos amidst twisted leaves and vines to invite someone into a secret garden?”

Stanley J. O’Neil used copper, bronze and blown glass to create “Enchanting Passage,” while Teresa Harpster hoped her gate would live “Happily Ever After” in someone’s garden. Joseph Dent created an “Entrance to Eden” out of steel and wood; and Jason Crawford took show goers on “A Walk in the Garden” with his gate.

The 'My Garden Gate' exhibit was a big hit for both the attendees and the artists, so the show hopes it will return next year.

Barry Collier reused many antique hand wrenches for his entry, titled “Weekend Wrenchin’,” that appealed to auto lovers everywhere, since it included an Intarsia version of a 1929 Ford Roadster pickup. Shannon Buckner, of Bent Productions, dreamed of a “Summer Breeze” with her gate and finally, Iron Idion’s Steve Hussey created a gate that was a flight of fantasy as he depicted the “Dance of the Dragonflies.”

Other artists exhibiting a gate at the 2011 Northwest Flower & Garden Show included Travis Selland of Ironman Ornamental depicting “The Elements”; Red Grass Design’s Brett Cleveland entered “To Whom it May Concern;” and Andi and Mike Flicker’s gate was titled “Pinecone Gate.”

The Garden Show team is already hard at work planning next year’s show (February 8 – 12, 2012, so mark your calendars) and given the attendee raves for the ‘My Garden Gate’ exhibit, and the beautiful workmanship, artistry and attention to detail from all our talented garden gate exhibitors, this is one show feature that will undoubtedly be back! – Janet