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

Gardening’s for the Birds

It’s almost time. I can feel it; more importantly, I can hear it. An occasional twitter pokes through shrubs—nubby with new growth—to remind me the birds are a comin’.

And when they do, they’ll start building homes and families, laying eggs and dive-bombing unsuspecting gardeners. I can already picture them swooping down on me, chiding me for inadvertently getting too close to their precious progeny. (Every year I have at least one Alfred Hitchcock flashback to the movie The Birds)

All that aside, I truly love sharing my garden with my fine feathered friends, and in fact try to give them reason to return year after year (other than the delight of dive-bombing me). A few particular favorites I keep my eyes open for are:

• The American Goldfinch
• The Barn Swallow
• The American Robin
• The Black-chinned Hummingbird

For practical advice on wooing some northwest birds to your neck of the woods, check out these books:

• Bird by Bird Gardening, by Sally Roth
• The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds, by Stephen W. Kress
• Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and other Winged Wonders to Your Backyard, by Rick and Kris Wetherbee *this one endorsed by Ed Hume!

Unfortunately, as with most things, you get the good with the bad when it comes to gardening for the birds. Woodpeckers, excessive bird droppings, and seed hulls are topics covered in a Q&A website posted by the Wild Bird Shop – A Unique Nature Store on the Oregon Coast.

The chart listed under this question is particularly helpful: How do I attract (insert your favorite bird) to my yard?

And for bird-feeding products, bird houses, and nature articles, check out the Northwest Nature Shop. Maybe gardening really is just for the birds—but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all the fun!

Ed Hume: Horticulture Hometown Hero

Ed Hume has been in the gardening business longer than many of us have been… well, alive. I can probably trace my love for gardening back to childhood; I remember my mother watching him on an old black and white television, his soothing voice lilting in the background about the dangers of black mold and orange fungus.

In my book, a northwest blog about gardening just wouldn’t be complete without a nod to Ed. According to his website, humeseeds.com:

“ED HUME is celebrating his 42nd year as a gardening personality. His weekly television show is the longest continuous-running gardening television show in North America and possibly in the World. At one time his weekly television show, Gardening In America, was seen in approximately 50 million homes across the United States and in Japan. Currently his weekly program is seen on KONG TV in Seattle, channels 6/16.

The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Ed Hume is especially proud of his induction into the Garden Writers Association “Hall of Fame,” their highest honor. He has also received:

• National Garden Communicators Award (1977)
• National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences “Silver Circle

He is an honorary “Master Gardener”; “Certified Professional Horticulturist”; honorary member of the “Washington Association of Landscape Professionals” and an honorary lifetime member of the ‘Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association.”

On October 5th, 2006, Ed was awarded the WaFlorA Cup, the highest honor of the Washington Floricultural Association.

His latest book is Gardening with Ed Hume: Northwest Gardening Made Easy. Ed has also written several other books including the Ed Hume Garden Book, the Keep It Simple series of books, and a special children’s book, How to Plant a Bunch of Stuff.

Garden Luminaria

We’d be irresponsible gardeners to not think about our effect on the environment within our own backyards. Experienced Materials vows to assist us in this effort as they craft gorgeous lanterns, garden lights and mobiles-from recycled materials. Please meet owner Gina Nash.

Flora-How in the world did you get started making these?

Gina- I have been using found and re-used pieces in my work since college at Davis. I was doing larger sculpture then and felt that each piece spoke of its own history. When I placed them together they spoke of a different, yet communal story. After college I was back in the restaurant business (I had been a professional cook for ten years before returning to school) and I was watching these cans go out the back door, cast-off, used and free. I saw a resource and a chance to work with an object that had already passed through so many hands. Lanterns and luminaria were born of a torch, and an old can in my rental garage.

Flora- How has your product been received?

Gina- I started showing my work via the group Cracked Pots and the Saturday Market in Portland, Oregon, and the response has been great. Transformation is my passion. I want it to take you a heart beat or two before your eye realizes it is gazing at a recycled product.

Flora- Your lanterns are really beautiful. I would never know they were made with recycled materials by just looking at them.

Gina-They cast pictures on your walls and walkways.

Flora- That they do. I can see them as part of an entire landscaping picture for gardens and yards.

Gina- I hope that the magical charm of the tin can continues. The line has expanded beyond the reused tin can to include recycled steel.  I am making the mobiles from this recycled sheet steel and some are five feet long.

Flora- Any special promotions during the Show?

Gina- Yes, I am having a special on my string lights. They have always been my best sellers and I will have the classic twelve foot string at a great price. 

Visit Experienced Materials at Booth #2435.

Visit Ask Jasmine for tips on setting up and manning a successful show garden.

Little Buds

Buds come in all shapes and sizes. The bud of a cucumber is miniscule compared to the bud of a prickly pear cactus. Human “buds” also come in all shapes and sizes (and ages).

My favorite ones are the budding gardeners. Often they are miniatures of us. If you’re a teacher, they are your daily delight in your classroom. If you’re a neighbor, it’s the young one meandering over when you’re “playing in your dirt”.  If you’re a mom or dad, as soon as they’ve graduated from eating the dirt, you can begin to introduce them to flora (not me, of course) and fauna. If you’re a Grandmom/dad, you have an “in” with certain buds (aka grandchildren), who love you unconditionally and can’t wait to come to your house. A few hints to make their journey into vegetable gardening pleasant and anticipated:

Planting-When it’s time to plants seeds, prepare the soil first. Guide them in planting but let them drop in the seeds, cover and water them. Fast growing varieties are best since their favorite activity will be watching for growth. Think radishes, lettuce, onion sets and corn, for example.  

Compost-Teach them composting by letting them put coffee grounds or other compost into the bed. Even better, grow one container without compost and see if they can later see differences between the two areas.  

Care-K.I.S.S- Keep it simple, silly. A 4 year old will love using a small watering can and caring for the veggies that “need a drink”. 

Pollination-Talk to them about the birds and the bees-the ones who come and pollinate the blooms. Planting flowers that will attract bees, such as lavender, roses, pincushions, etc. to your garden will help with this.

Their Favorite Part-When it comes time to harvest your treasures, let them eat fresh from the vine (after washing the fruit, of course). Nothing is sweeter than a cherry tomato, crisp green bean, or a warmed-from-the-sun strawberry. 

Storing-Don’t make them sit on a kitchen stool for hours helping you “put up” the crops. Keep it pleasant.

Clean-Up-When summer is over, teach them to pull the vines, compost the remains and prepare the garden for winter (in small manageable times), then top off the activity with a cup of their favorite drink-and time to sit and talk to you.

Education & Fun- I hear there is a great, hands-on area called “Sproutopia” at the Show that you both will enjoy. Also check out kinderGARDEN and Composting for Kids.

Remember budding gardeners will someday grow up to be grownups with buds of their own, and it won’t surprise you to hear a conversation someday that begins:  “When I was little, I used to help someone plant and grow a garden…what buds we were!”