Plant Talk

A Tour of Labyrinths - Walk Eight Vashon Island Labyrinths On Saturday September 24th

An ancient art form has come into the garden on Vashon Island, where eight labyrinths will be open to the public on Saturday September 24th from 10 am to 4 pm.  Here's your chance to spend a beautiful autumn afternoon touring Vashon Island, walking in a tradition going back thousands of years. The fall tour is hosted by the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit labyrinth committee, their friends and the Western Washinton Labyrinth Network (who knew??).

From large, public labyrinths to more intimately scaled ones in private gardens, each labyrinth is unique in design and setting. Some destinations will feature music and dance. Pick up maps and directions for the self-guided tour at the Episcopal Church at 15420 Vashon Highway Southwest at 10:00 a.m. the church will host a  talk about the tradition and history of labyrinths to kick off the day. Suggested donation of $10 for the full tour.

For more information, contact Betty Hawkins at 206-463-5062.

A mown-in-the-grass labyrinth with a view, one of eight on the tour:

 

 

 

 

 

Vashon Island gardens...

It was snowing when I left Queen Anne hill on Friday morning, but the sun beamed through before I'd reached Vashon Island. I was scouting a story about the Vashon garden tour (June 27 & 28). Organizers have recruited some very special gardens this year - stay tuned for a story and photos in Pacific Northwest mag in early June.

Vashon Island is gorgeous this time of year - pastures full of pygmy goats, horses, and llamas, sweeps of fruit trees in hazy white and pink bloom. Here are a few of the spring sights, and a teaser for the garden tour....

If you think you're behind on pruning back your lavender, imagine the task ahead of this Vashon gardener with an entire front landscape of lavender....

A labyrinth in tour chair Anita Halstead's front garden - what a great way to cover the ground

I wonder if gardeners on Vashon realize how lucky they are to have such a stylish and well-stocked nursery as DIG Floral and Garden, which is one of my favorite nurseries anywhere....Proprietors Sylvia Matlock and Ross Johnson have created a destination full of cool plants and clever ideas...here are a couple of DIG scenes: a water feature made of sewer pipes, and a little outdoor seating area on gravel - shows that  a great outdoor rug can create a comfy scene just about anywhere...
 

Narcissus in full bloom, and one of many pebble mosaics in one of the tour gardens.