Plant Talk

Bamboo and Peonies - Twin Treasures of Chinese Horticulture Celebrated in This Weekend's Festival at the Seattle Chinese Garden

The Seattle Bamboo Festival and Seattle Luoyang Peony Festival join forces to bring you the ancient, leafy beauty of bamboo and some of the most striking flowers on the planet...peonies and more peonies at their peak. Admission is free. Celebrate these twin treasures of Chinese horticulture this weekend (May 18-19, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.) at the Seattle Chinese Garden.

You'll not only be able to check out progress on the newest pavilion at the garden, but view the first blossoms on more than 200 tree peonies donated to our Chinese garden by the city of Luoyang, considered the peony capitol of China. We're lucky to have more than 19 different varieties of Luoyang peonies, one of the most diverse collections of on the West Coast.

There's be a raffle for peonies, plant displays, a bamboo sale, artist demonstrations, as well as horticultural
talks and tips. Learn how to divide and prune bamboo. Riz Reyes of Landwave Gardens will give an illustrated talk on Sunday on the culture of peonies.   Check out the Seattle Chinese garden website for a complete schedule of all the talks, demonstrations, and festivities...

The Seattle Chinese Garden is located on the South Seattle Community College campus in West Seattle at 6000 16th Avenue S.W. Parking is free, admission to the festival is free. Questions? Call the garden office at 206-934-5219, or email info@seattlechinesegarden.org

 

"A Conscientious Gardener: Cultivating a Garden Ethic" Lecture & Benefit

Sarah Reichard has written a splendid book about how to garden in the 21st century. Which tactics, products, practices make sense? Sarah sorts through them for you in her thoughtful new book.

Sarah's conservation ethic is long-standing and strong, which you might expect from an invasive plant expert. She brings her academic background and research into play; in fact it was her students that pushed her to write the chapter on recycling and re-using.  But it's Sarah's love of gardening that informs the book, and makes it so readable. She writes expertly on topics from water conservation to pest control, from native plants to co-existing with wildlife. 

I interviewed Sarah for a column that'll run in Pacific Northwest magazine in March - but no need to wait to hear Sarah talk about her work. The Northwest Horticultural Society is throwing a launch party for "A Conscientious Gardener"on Thursday, February 17 in NHS Hall at the Center for Urban Horticulture.

The reception and book-signing starts at 6:45, followed by Sarah's lecture at 7:30. Cost is $15; all benefits will go to the Rare Care program at UW Botanic Gardens. 

For reservations, contact Karin Kravitz at nwhort@aol.com, or 206-780-8172. For more information, see http://www.northwesthort.org/special.html

From Vegetables To Cyclamen, January is Ripe With Gardening Events You Won't Want To Miss

  Now, in the dead of winter, gardeners have time to store away information for the coming season like squirrels with a hoard of nuts. And there's plenty going on this month to launch us into a great gardening year...

This Wednesday, January 12, Portland garden designer Lucy Hardiman kicks off the lecture season for the Northwest Horticultural Society.   "Gardening Where We Live: A Pacific Northwest Convergence" is her theme, and she'll tell us about cutting edge nurseries and innovative designers. In words that give you an idea  how lively the talk will be, you'll see and hear about gardens that are "bodacious and beautiful, functional and fun, original and organic, sustainable and sassy, plant driven and productive." The lecture costs $5 for NHS members, $10 for non-members; reception starts at 6:45 and the lecture at 7:15, at the Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 N.E. 41st St. near University Village. No reservations needed.

On Sunday, January 23, Colin McCrate and Brad Halm of Seattle Urban Farm Company are giving a class on how to grow vegetables organically from seed to harvest, at Sky Nursery. These guys are the boom - remember that cool pick-up truck with the chickens and vegetables in it at last year's Northwest Flower and Garden Show? They created it...also the rooftop vegetable and herb garden at Bastille Restaurant in Ballard...). You'll learn about garden planning, organic pest control, and succession planting...from people who were ahead of the curve on urban farming. Sky Nursery is located at 18528 Aurora Ave North; the class is from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Cyclamen are the treasures of the winter garden - how can anything look so delicate yet be so tough? On Saturday, January 29, and Sunday February 6, Bouquet Banque Nursery is holding their 2nd Annual Hardy Cyclamen Sale. Judy and Bill have been testing and growing cyclamen for a decade, and offer thousands of specialty coums, hederifoliums and more... "We open the cold frames, spiff up the garden, heat up the workshop, and bake some sweet breads for two glorious winter garden days...." is the welcoming way Judy and Bill describe their event....which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

Bouquet Banque Nursery is in Marysville:

 

Come Celebrate Miller Library's 25th B'Day

We are SO fortunate to have a library here in Seattle devoted to the literature of gardening - free and open to the public. It was Betty Miller's vision, and the generosity of the gardening community, that created this unique resource....and now the Miller Library is celebrating its 25th anniversary and you're all invited to come help celebrate. 

This is a little bittersweet for me, in part because it makes me feel like a dinosaur to be reminded that I started work at the Center for Urban Horticulture in June 1985! Due to so much help, especially from the Northwest Horticultural Society and the Miller Charitable Foundation, as well as the the faculty, students, and professional horticulturists, the library grew and thrived and I still can't believe it's been that long!!

The library staff invites everyone to stop in on Saturday Nov. 6th, anytime between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., for a piece of celebratory cake and glass of punch. Join in a free, hourly raffle for choice plants, watch a slide show of library history, sign up to borrow books, view beautiful botanical illustrations by Linda Ann Vorobik and bring the kids (age 2-8) for a children's story time at 10:30. If you haven't seen the re-designed, rebuilt (since the eco-terrorist fire bombing in 2001) Merrill Hall, here's your chance....please come join the celebration of our horticultural library treasure....here are a few photos as added enticement....(3501 N.E. 41st Street, near Laurelhurt and University Village; http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/)

Lilies, Leaves, and Backyard Habitat

  We may have less garden work to do as autumn descends, but there's no shortage of classes and events to keep us busy.......come celebrate and support the historic Dunn Gardens at a new and sure-to-be-glamorous event. Lilies and Leaves will be held on September 30, from 6-8 pm at the Seattle Golf Club. It'll feature garden photographs by Douglas Houck, as well as entertainment by jazz singer Susan Robinson and "legendary raconteur" Steve Lorton. (Isn't that great? Who else in the garden world has earned such a rousing description?) Everyone is invited, with suggested donations of $125, $250, or $500 to preserve this Olmsted designed local treasure. For more information or to RSVP email info@dunngardens.org or call 206-362-0933.

My vote for best fall classes are the Woodland Park Zoo's  new backyard habitat series. Taught by experts from Seattle Audubon, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Native Plant Society and the Woodland Park Zoo, the classes are designed to build upon each other in a series, but can also be taken separately:

Introduction to Backyard Habitat: Site Analysis and Design
Tuesday, September 28, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Join Allen Howard, Woodland Park Zoo horticulturist, to learn the basic principles of creating habitat for wildlife, with a focus on planning, site analysis and design.
 
Natural Yard Care in the Fall
Saturday, October 9, 10:00 a.m. to noon
Join E.J. Hook, Woodland Park Zoo horticulturist, to learn seasonally appropriate sustainable gardening practices, including composting, mulching and proper fall planting.
 
Fall Plants and Planting
Saturday, October 9, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Join Monica Vander Vieren, Washington Native Plant Society Native Plant Steward, and David Selk, Woodland Park Zoo horticulturist, to discover how different plants in your garden can provide for the basic needs of wildlife. The class includes a plant walk around zoo grounds focusing on aesthetic and size considerations, as well as proper planting techniques.  
 
Attracting Birds to Your Yard
Wednesday, October 27, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Join Neil Zimmerman, Seattle Audubon Outreach Chair and Master Birder, to learn how to attract and care for birds in your yard through plant selection, placement and maintenance of bird feeders and nestboxes, and use of water features.
 
"Problem" Plants and Animals
Tuesday, November 16, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Join Sasha Shaw, King County Noxious Weed education specialist, and Chris Anderson, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife biologist, to learn how to identify and eradicate problem weeds and coexist peacefully and legally with all wildlife attracted to your backyard habitat.

 COST:             $25 per person, per class; $100 per person for the full, five-part series if you register before 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 21.
 
REGISTER:   To register, go to http://www.zoo.org/backyardworkshop. Registration closes one week before each class. If there is still space available after registration closes, drop-in registrations will be accepted the night of class. Drop-in classes are $30 each.

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Horticultural Happenings - Estate Garden Tour, June 27th

You're invited to walk right into this elegant Highlands garden....it's the old Frederick estate, one of three grand and lavish destinations on the North Seattle Estate Garden Tour on Sunday, June 27th from 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

When else will you have the chance to so harmlessly embrace illusions of grandeur? Docents will be on hand to   answer questions about plants and garden history. Each garden will feature a guitarist, an organist will be playing in the Henry Chapel, and the tour finishes up at the Dunn Gardens for a party complete with jazz band.  And you'll be sent home with a gift in thanks for supporting the Dunn Gardens.

Space is limited, tickets cost $100; RSVP at www.dunngardens.org; for more info 206-362-0933 or info@dunngardens.org

 

 

Laburnum Show for Memorial Day

Happy soggy Memorial Day....if the gloomy weather is getting you down, sunshine (or the next best thing) is on offer at Bayview Farm and Garden. Their impressive double laburnum arbor is a dose of flower therapy, and well worth the trip to Whidbey Island. Really, it's more of a  laburnum tunnel, in full and perfect bloom at the moment. Inspired by Rosemary Verey's legendary laburnum arbor at her Barnsley House garden in England, the Bayview arbor drips long golden yellow racemes of laburnum flowers underplanted with purple allium. It's quite a sight; and if you stand beneath it, and look up into the flowers you'll be convinced the sun is beaming brightly...for a minute, anyway....

  While you're at Bayview Farm and Garden (Located off Hwy 525 at Bayview Corner, 2780 Marshview Ave; on South Whidbey Island, (360) 321-6789) be sure and check out their outstanding selection of Japanese maples....

Hort Happenings: An Irresistible Auction

Did you know that Seattle has its own play garden dedicated to enriching the lives of kids with varying abilities? The lively space at 1740 23rd Avenue South (between South Grand and South Massachusetts) is a safe and supportive environment for kids to immerse themselves in nature, grow vegetables, learn to cook (now a new kitchen has been completed). The PlayGarden accommodates children with special needs as well as typically developing children, so it's a perfect spot for families to hang out. Programs encourage kids to develop their cognitive, motor and social skills, and just to enjoy being outdoors. 

This Saturday evening, May 22 from 5-9 p.m., the Northwest Horticultural Society is throwing a party and auction to support the PlayGarden and you're invited. There'll be food and wine, garden celebs galore, and some very desirable, one-of-a-kind auction items, such as: a tour and lunch at Dan Hinkley's private garden, wine in Ciscoe Morris's garden, a custom built chicken coop from Ravenna Gardens....and much more.  

The event will be held at the Center for Urban Horticulture; tickets price is $65, call 206-227-5458 or check out the Seattle Children's PlayGarden website for more information.

Horticultural Happenings - Far Reaches Farm & Pearl Fryar

For gardeners, May and June are as bad as December for overcommitment...but no matter how busy you are, these upcoming events are worth attending: 

This coming weekend, trek over to Port Townsend to plant-mecca Far Reaches Farm.  I was there last week and am still tongue-tied over the amazing variety of unusual peonies, absolutely gorgeous podophyllum, trillium, and even a variegated ajuga I didn't even come close to recognizing. Proprietors Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken have created a couple of shade houses that alone are worth a ferry ride; there's a new green-roofed structure, a sunny border, and tables and tables of plants for sale. This weekend is an annual benefit when Kelly and Sue donate 20% of their profits to the Jefferson Land Trust,so you can do good for your garden and the Land Trust at the same time. Here are some of their lust-inducing trillium, and some Kniphofia pauciflora I carried home; and yes, you'll see a story about Far Reaches Farm coming up in Pacific Northwest magazine....

Next Wednesday, May 12, the Northwest Horticultural Society brings topiaryest (is there such a word? If not, there should be...) Pearl Fryar to Seattle. Fryar has been sculpting his 3 acre South Carolina garden since 1984, turning it into leafy folk art while becoming famous for his love, goodwill and skill. This lecture will be an original, just like the man delivering it. The lecture is at the Center for Urban Horticulture; reception begins at 6:45 and the lecture at 7:15 p.m. $5 for members, $10 for non-members; see the www.northwesthort.org for more information.
 

Horticultural Happenings

I try not to bury you in gardening events and sales...our horticultural community is so rich that it's all too easy to be overwhelmed by all the possibilities, especially now when we're so busy in our own gardens. But here is a one-of-a-kind event and the biggest sale of the season, not to be missed...(If you do want a comprehensive list, check out the Miller Library web page).

APRIL 24 & 25 ARBORETUM PLANT SALE are the dates for this year's Granddaddy of all plant sales. FlorAbundance supports the Washington Park Arboretum, and all the best vendors, bearing choice plants, come from far and near to participate: Saturday, April 24, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, April 25, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Warren G. Magnuson Park, Building 30, Member Pre-Sale:  Friday, April 23, 5:30 to 8 p.m.

MAY 8 - MASTER PRUNERS AND CULTURAL AWARENESS ON WHIDBEY ISLAND - You're invited to visit a glorious, much-published garden belonging to Norm and Danielle Bodine on Whidbey Island. Believe me that the Bodine's are wonderful hosts, and they're holding a Japanese pruning demonstration, garden tour and lunch in their garden and home to benefit the Northwest Language Academy. Masa Mizuno, former landscape director of the Portland Japanese garden and Mark Akai will answer questions, give a pruning demonstration and lead tours of the Bodine's garden  from 10 - 12, followed by a delicious lunch. Price is $75, with all proceeds going to the NWLA. Space is limited; learn more and sign up at (360) 321-2101 or at www.nwlanguageacademy.com. 

Take a look at the Bodine's South Whidbey garden and come visit on May 8th when it's at the height of spring bloom