Plant Talk

Heronswood Resurrected - First Garden Open and Plant Sale on May 18

 
It's been too many years since eager gardeners thronged Heronswood in hopes of finding the rare, unusual, beautiful, and thrilling - but it'll happen again next weekend as the resurrected Heronswood Garden throws open its gates for its first Garden Open and Plant Sale.

And you won't be disappointed. Regional nurseries, like Naylor Creek, Windcliff, Dragonfly Farms, The Desert Northwest and Colvos Creek Nursery will be on hand with a wide variety of exciting plants, including Far Reaches Farm's Cardiocrinum 'Big & Pink', and the gorgeous Iris laevigata colchesterensis pictured on the poster.    

You'll be able to tour the garden and check out the progress being made on its historic renovation. Dan Hinkley, Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken (co-proprietors of Far Reaches Farm) will give free talks: (Seating is limited to first-come,first-serve.)  

-At 11:30 a.m., Dan will talk about Heronswood’s early days and the work being done today to restore the garden in a talk called “Heronswood: Past, Present, and Future.” At  2:30 p.m. Dan will give a talk on “Foliage First.”

- At 1 p.m.  Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken from Far Reaches Farm will speak on “Plants Outside the Mainstream.”

Admission to the plant sale and lectures is free of charge. Tickets to tour the garden will be available for $10 with all proceeds going towards the restoration and maintenance of the garden. Entrance for garden tours will close at 4 p.m.

 The Heronswood Garden Open & Plant Sale is being hosted by the Port Gamble S’Klallam Foundation, which—along with a Steering Committee made up of plant enthusiasts, tribal leaders, and respected horticulturalists—has been charged with managing restoration and community outreach activities at Heronswood. The S’Klallam Singers will also perform throughout the day and local vendors will be set up to sell food to visitors and participants.

 

 

Plant Nerd Night Moves to July - Tickets Go On Sale Tomorrow

Show biz has the red carpet, the fashion industry its Met Museum gala....and gardeners have Nerd Night. Thanks to the Northwest Horticulture Society for orchestrating this joyful mob-scene of a plant sale where botanical Latin is spoken freely and there's no embarrassment in showing your pure delight in new, unusual, rare, and covetable plants.

This year's sale is pushed back into July and will be an indoor/outdoor summer party as well as plant sale and auction. But tickets go on sale at 8 a.m. tomorrow, May 1st at Brown Paper Tickets

Last year was the first year, and tickets sold out quickly so reserve your place.

Nerd Night Details:

THURSDAY, July 25, 2013 - 6:00 PM

The Mountaineers Program Center
7700 Sand Point Way, Seattle 98115
INDOOR/OUTDOOR  SUMMER PARTY

HOT Plants presented by

CISTUS NURSERY
FAR REACHES FARM
KEEPING IT GREEN NURSERY
LEE FARM & NURSERY
ROBINWOOD NURSERY
T & L NURSERY


   
   
   

The NHS & the NPA Launch Spring with Plant Sales and Talks by Dan Hinkley and Tom Fisher

The Northwest Horticultural Society sure makes  charitable giving fun for us all - especially their early spring plant sale in support of the Miller Library at the Center for Urban Horticulture. The library is an amazing resource, open to all gardeners, students, professionals. It's a true Northwest treasure.

Join the NHS in supporting the library - all you need do is spend March 9 hanging out with a bunch of keen gardeners, buy some gorgeous hellebores (etc. etc.) and listen to Dan Hinkley give a talk or two - tough duty!!

This year's NHS Early Spring Sale event takes place  on March 9th, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Center for Urban Horticulture (3501 N.E. 41st Street, behind University Village). Over twenty vendors will bring their spring specialities for you to choose from.

Dan will be selling plants from Windcliff as well as speaking at 10 a.m. on "Foliage First" and at 1 p.m. "The Moment at Windcliff - Winter Gives Way to Early Spring". And bring your questions - not only will the vendors be available to ask about the plants they're selling, but at 11:30, Richie Steffen, Lorene Edwards Forkner and Marty Wingate will sit on a Q&A Question Panel - your chance to stump the horticulturists. (Speakers are all donating their time - the event is all about supporting the library...

Tickets to Dan's lectures are $5, on sale starting at 8:30 am. All other events are no charge.

For more nformation, visit the NHS webpage emai:l nwhort@aol.com or call: 206-780-8172

The impressive ist of vendors is on the NHS webpage....take a look at a couple of salivating-worthy plants Bouquet Banque is bringing with them: Top to bottom:Podophyllum pleiantha (fall color), the charming Cyclamen coum "Maurice Dryden', and a plant that's new to me Dichroa fibrifuga...part of the fun of this sale is that vendors bring unusual and even rare plants..

If you can't quite figure out what to do with the great plants you just bought, or with your garden overall, the Northwest Perennial Alliance is welcoming  Tom Fisher to Seattle on March 24 to talk on “The Agony of Indecision: Lurching toward a Personal Style”.Tom is the editor-in-chief at Timber Press in Portland, and for years was editor of Horticulture magazine.

Tom will lecture at 1 p.m. on Sunday March 24 at the Center for Urban Horticulture; the doors will open at noon for plant and seed sales. Cost is $5 for NPA members, and $10 for non-members at the door.

This lecture is $5 for NPA members, non-members $10 at the door.
More information about the lecture can be found here.

Tom is that rare combination of vastly experienced, yet seriously funny - I hope he considers it a compliment to be deemed "the David Sedaris of Gardening". I know David Sedaris has talked alot about his family, animals, smoking, and the French...but never about plants that I can remember....even more reason to come hear Tom on March 24...

Make Your List and Check It Twice - the Granddaddy of Fall Plant Sales is Next Weekend

At the end of a long season we can see all too clearly what's working in our gardens and what isn't. The Northwest Horticultural Society comes to the rescue next weekend, with a fall plant sale filled with temptations. All the specialty nurseries bring their choice plants, everyone turns out, and it's a last big chance to talk and buy plants before the season is over.

Need a replacement hedge, more colored foliage, some scrim plants at the front of the border, or late-bloomers to perk up autumn pots?  The impressive array of vendors will offer everything from hardy cactus to centerpiece trees, from lacy little shrubs to collector's perennials...

Soon enough the rains will set in, and it'll be the perfect time to plant, while the soil is still warm enough to encourage root growth and help plants become well established before next spring and summer.

Remember - the sale is no longer at CUH or Magnuson Park - it's now held at North Seattle Community College. Here are the details:

Friday, September 14, 2012, noon-6:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 15, 2012, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

North Seattle Community College

Arts & Sciences Building Garage

9600 College Way N., Seattle, WA 98103

Check out the list of this year's vendors here. It's an exciting list of more than twenty nurseries, including The Desert Northwest, Botanica,  Old Goat Farm, and Plant Talk partner Far Reaches Farm....

Earliest Spring Plant Sales to Art Auctions and Backyard Habitat Classes at the Zoo

It's hard to look up from working in the garden right now - weeding, mulching, pruning, leftover fall clean-up  (that would be me)...but these events will be worth taking time out for...

  Remember how we used to launch the gardening season with a hellebore open house at Heronswood that was both gardening party and benefit for the Miller Library? The Northwest Horticultural Society has updated that spring kick-off with a sale of woodland treasures, hellebores and ferns, plus lectures by Dan Hinkley ..On Friday March 9, from 9:00 - 4:00 at the Center for Urban Horticulture, come buy plants, see your friends who are also emerging from the winter doldrums. Dan will give two lectures ($5 each) on spring ephemerals, and early-blooming trees and shrubs. Because this is an NHS event, you can expect to have fun, learn much, and find specialty vendors offering cool and unusual plants...

On Sunday, March 18, the Northwest Perennial Alliance is hosting their annual Nicolay Lecture, and auctioning off an original watercolor by Kevin Nicolay, one of the organizations founding members, a renowned plantsman and beloved artist.

Nicolay was self-taught, developing his detailed and intricate technique by studying medieval flower paintings. His work hangs in museums and was seen regularly in Horticulture magazine (when that mag used to be the gold standard...). Nicolay died in 1990 at the age of 33, and his work is scarce, so this is a special opportunity to own an original - or at least get in on the excitement of a lively auction.

The watercolor is Primula auricula, Golden Centered Alpine 'Brown Bess', it's signed, framed, and measures 16" x 20". 'Brown Bess' will be on display in the Miller Library  at the Center for Urban Horticulture from March 1-17 if you'd like to take a close look at it.

The afternoon event begins at noon at CUH, and includes a sale of native perennials from MSK Rare Plant Nursery and a lecture by Greg Raybourn on Northwest native perennials. For more information, call Gayle Richardson at  206-632-2735.

Who better to educate gardeners about creating backyard habitats than the folks at the zoo? At this series of five classes, you'll learn from experts from Seattle Audubon, Seattle Tilth, Washington Native Plant Society and Woodland Park Zoo about how to design your wildlife habitat, attract birds and other wildlife to your backyard, select and care for native plants, manage your backyard sustainably, coexist peacefully with the wildlife you attract, and get your yard certified as a Backyard Habitat. New this year - your backyard vegetable garden as habitat....
 
Site Evaluation, Design, and Maintenance
Wednesday, March 14th from 7 to 9 p.m.


Attracting Birds To Your Backyard
Wednesday, March 28th from 7 to 9 p.m.

Spring Plants and Planting
Saturday, April 7th from 10 a.m. to noon

NEW CLASS! Your Vegetable Garden as a Backyard Habitat
Saturday, April 7th from 1 to 3 p.m.

Butterflies and Bees, Wednesday, April 25, from 7-9 p.m.

Cost: $25 per person / $100 for the five-part series if you register before 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14th.
 
For more information or to register, see the zoo’s Backyard Habitat page: www.zoo.org/backyardhabitat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seattle's Biggest and Best Fall Plant Sale is this Weekend - At a New Location

As much party as sale, the Northwest Horticultural Society fall plant extravaganza will, as always, be full of treasures to delight eager gardeners. The best regional specialty nurseries and wholesale growers offering tempting and unusual plants, and plenty of experts to answer questions, are hallmarks of this annual September event; the location, however, is new.

Because of construction at Magnuson Park, NHS has moved the sale to the North Seattle Community College Cafeteria at 9600 College Way North, in Seattle. You can find directions, a list of this year's vendors, and all the details on the NHS web page.

Days and Times:

Friday, September 16, noon to 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 17, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Steamboat Island Nursery from the Olympia area is just one of many specialty nurseries who will be at the sale...Laine and Duane say that among their offerings will be  unusual foxgloves, the hardy alpine bush mint (Prostanthera cuneata), and a fine selection of  ferns, including my favorite kind, the burnished bronze autumn fern at left (Dryopteris erythrosora).

 

 

 

Plant Your Vegetables - Tilth Plant Sale May 7&8

Seattle Tilth stages a riot of an edible plant sale, and there's good reason the event is so popular. You can be sure all the vegetables are selected to do well in our climate, they're grown locally and sustainably.  And where else can you score any of  50 different varieties of organic tomatoes? I love the vast selection of culinary herbs -  slow-to-bolt cilantro, beautiful sages, and fragrant lemon verbena among many other temptations. Heirloom vegetables, drought tolerant perennials, fruit trees and plenty of edible flowers will be for sale along with warm season crops like peppers, squash, and corn - we can only hope the weather cooperates to help nurture them along.

Tilth garden educators will be on hand to answer questions about varieties and how to grow them; they've even put together theme Gardens To Go, like "Your Farm In the City" and "Edible Plants for Kids".

If you want to beat the crowds, try the Early Bird Pre-Sale on Friday, May 6 from 6-8 p.m. - tickets benefit Tilth and cost $25.

Call Tilth at 206-633-0451 ext. 119 for more information or to buy tickets for the pre-sale. Learn all about the staggered entry system for Saturday morning, quieter shopping times (Saturday afternoon and Sunday), find a list of growers who will be at the sale, and all the logistics on the Tilth web page.

The sale is on Saturday May 7th and Sunday May 8th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, at Meridian Park, behind the Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Seattle.

 

 

 

 

Fall Plant Sale Season Kicks In

Two of the finest plant sales launch us into the fall gardening season this weekend with hard-to-find ornamentals and organic edibles. 

The Northwest Perennial Alliance is hosting a dozen specialty nurseries at the Bellevue Botanical Garden (12001 Main Street) this Saturday, September 11 from 10-2 (what's with these abbreviated hours, anyway??). It's worth scooting across the bridge for this sale, with its unusual ferns, alpines, hardy fuchsias, bulbs and other collector-type plants. 

Seattle Tilth's Harvest Fair (4649 Sunnyside Ave. N.) is as much party and educational opportunity as plant sale, with an organic farmer's market, talks and demonstrations, bees, goats, chickens, live music and sustainable vendors....this Saturday too, and at least its hours are from 10 - 5.

One of my favorite sales of the year is the Northwest Horticulture Society's blow out at Magnuson Park (7400 Sand Point Way) the following weekend, Friday September 17 from noon to 6 p.m. and and Saturday, September 18 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  A round up of specialty growers will bring their finest plants to an appreciative audience of eager gardeners, and there'll be plenty of experts there to answer your gardening questions.  

The Arboretum Foundation wraps up the fall plant sale season on Sunday Oct 3 and Monday, October 4 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days) with their Fall Bulb and Plant Sale held at the Washington Park Arboretum's Graham Visitors Centers, 2300 Arboretum Drive East. Here's the place to find both unusual and heirloom bulbs for forcing or growing outdoors, plus hundreds of varieties of crocus, tulip, narcissus, cyclamen...also companion shrubs, ferns and perennials. Members can shop the pre-sale on Saturday Oct. 2 - good incentive to join the Foundation.

It's almost sacrilegious to suggest that fall isn't the ideal planting time it's touted to be. But after the last couple of harsh winters, with the winter of 2010/2011 predicted to be especially chilly, you might be a bit cautious about putting new perennials or anything borderline hardy into the ground this fall. The idea is that because of still warm soils and plenty of rain, fall-planting gets plants off to a good, strong start. While true for hardy trees and shrubs....and also bulbs, of course, which want to go into the ground in October and November, the last couple of years gardeners have lost autumn planted perennials....

Once the rains start in autumn is the ideal time to plant trees like this coral bark maple....I'd hold off planting ornamental grasses until early spring.

 

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

 

 

Q&A - Where to Start? New from Sunset and Taunton Press

Question: I've been on the waiting list for a P-Patch, and just got one - what do I do now? I'm a novice who wants to grow vegetables and herbs.

Thanks, Lorraine

Answer: Get thee to the Master Gardener and/or Tilth Plant Sales this weekend to buy healthy vegetable starts best suited for our climate. You'll learn so much just from browsing the sales and talking to the expert vendors. While you're at Tilth, check out their classes for beginning kitchen gardeners.

 Be sure and plant what you most want to eat - lettuces, parsley, basil, tomatoes, chives, and blueberries are all good candidates for easy to grow and most used in the kitchen. And don't get distracted by edibles that don't have much chance of ripening here, like melons and eggplant, however tempting.

Before planting, weed your patch thoroughly, and dig in plenty of manure-enriched compost, available in bags from just about any nursery, grocery or hardware store this time of year.

Check out Mixed Greens, one of my favorite blogs, which is all about growing food and cooking from the garden here in the Northwest. The current post has a tantalizing recipe for risotto with fresh spring greens. And just in time for the growing season, Taunton Press, publishers of Fine Gardening and former publishers of the late, lamented Kitchen Gardener magazines has just launched an online resource called VegetableGardener.com.

 Question: I am interested in learning landscape design and would like information on ornamental plants and shrubs and any other information you might recommend that relates to landscape design.  I live in Seattle, so if you could recommend a website or book pertaining to landscape maintenance/design for the Northwest I certainly would appreciate it.  Thank you.

Ted Zimbelman

Answer: Hi Ted - I think you get the award for asking the biggest question ever. Where to start? You can't go wrong with the latest edition of The Sunset Western Garden Book - be sure and pay attention to all the region-specific information in the front. Also, Sunset just launched an online "Plant Finder" which matches up plants to garden conditions and should be a great learning tool. You can put in criteria like climate zone, size, color, wildlife attracting, and the plant finder will come up with a customized plant list. And remember that we Seattle gardeners are lucky enough to have a horticultural library staffed by librarians who are gardeners themselves - the Miller Library has an amazing bounty of information, free and available to the public.

But my best advice is to get outdoors and work the soil, plant, and observe - there's no better way (coming from someone who would much rather read about most things than actually do them herself) to learn about gardening than to just do it, every day.