Posts Tagged ‘seattle tilth’

Greater Seattle Area Plant Sales in Spring 2010

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

(May 3, 2010 update): The sale announcements keep rolling in. Need a plan for mother’s day? How about a rare and native plant sale at a very special garden? Read on for details about the Kruckeberg sale and open house!

Plants for Sale!

Plants for Sale!

(April 24, 2010 update) Even more sale updates are being submitted! Read on for locations offering up sips of strawberry lemonade while you shop for your locally grown tomato starts.

(March 25, 2010 update) Plant sale updates keep rolling in, so it’s time to remind you to mark your calenders. Today, late breaking foodie plant news– it isn’t too late to get cool season crops from Seattle Tilth! If you missed the sale on March 20th, take heart! They’re doing it again on March 27th. Plus, we’ve been adding in other upcoming specialty sales coming up throughout the spring. Readers have contributed their submissions; if you have one to share, please send it in! Now, read on to find the hot horty sale spots for spring 2010!

If you haven’t already, it is time to mark your calender for all the great plant sales coming to the greater Seattle area this spring. Following is a list of some of my favorites. (Originally posted 3-14-2010)

If you have another plant sale you would like to see added to this list, let us know here.

If you aren’t in the greater Seattle area but would like to contribute plant sale information for your part of the world, let us know here.

Kruckeberg Gardens: Kruckeberg gardens is offering natives, spring bulbs, and unusual exotic plants for sale along with a free garden tour on May 8th. Too, expect family activities as well. Be sure to check their website for parking details. Local parking is limited, but satellite locations have been arranged. If you take the shuttle, you’ll get a $5 coupon!

  • May 7th & 8th from 10am-5pm
  • May 9th & 10th from 10am-5pm

Or, thinking of becoming a member? Members get in on the preview sale Thursday, May 6th from 10am-7pm. New members are welcome!

Fred Lind Manor and Jones Creek Farms are teaming up to offer our neighbors some old-fashioned hospitality. Sip on a complimentary glass of strawberry lemonade while you pick out the perfect tomato start from a local selection of organically grown, heirloom tomato plants. Fred Lind Manor, on the corner of 17th and Howell,  is a non-profit retirement community that has been serving Capitol Hill for 22 years. For more information, please call 206-774-5387 or just drop by the sale on Sunday, May 16, 2010

Seattle Tilth Edible Plant Sales: Yes, this year there are several from Seattle to Issaquah!

  • Added in March: March 27, 2010: Second Chance Edible Plant Sale for 40-60% off on cool season crop leftovers from the March 20th sale. Plus bareroot fruiting shrubs, vines and trees!

Lake Washington Technical College Plant Sale: Plants propagated, grown, and sold by students. Proceeds support this fantastic program. And, the plants range from trees to tomatoes.

  • April 24-25 & May 1-2, 2010: In addition to all the fantastic plants grown by students, Wholesale Nursery Northwest Nursery will be offering unbeatable prices on trees, shrubs, perennials and more. Proceeds from Northwest Nursery sales will go toward nursery founder, Jim Colman Memorial Scholarship fund, also helping students in horticulture.

Seattle Arboretum Plant Sales: Specialty plants, bulbs and much, much more.

Seattle Bamboo Festival: Bamboo poles, plants products, seminars, crafts, plus rare plant gallery and attending bamboo experts. Information on the Seattle Chapter of the American Bamboo Society is available here.

  • May 1-2, 2010: At the Graham Visitor Center at the Seattle arboretum.

King County Master Gardener Plant Sale: Buy plants, diagnose issues from your own garden, attend “how-to” seminars all in one location!

Highline Seatac Botanical Garden: From all-round garden reliables to rare botanicals. Meet with various botanical interest groups and more.

Broadview Garden Club Plant Sale: Including Trillium and Galanthus selections from Dunn Gardens!

  • May 1, 2010 (10am-2pm): Broadview Thompson School at 132nd and Greenwood
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Creating a Multiple Award Winning Show Garden

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Jessi Bloom of Northwest Bloom never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Where many garden professionals talk a lot about the environment and sustainability, Jessi walks that path everyday. Her fantastic display garden at the 2010 Northwest Flower and Garden Show illustrates her commitment beautifully. And, clearly I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Garden Mentor Robin Planting Jessi's Woodland Garden

Garden Mentor Robin Planting Jessi's Woodland Garden

Jessi,  with her young son Noah, imagined putting together “A Family’s Little Farm in the City“. Together with her fantastic crew, patient husband, a slew of eager volunteers and the enthusiastic assistance of Seattle Tilth, this garden became a multiple award winning illustration of edibles, sustainability, recycling, farming and more. Jessi’s a friend and a colleague whom I admire greatly, so if I may seem biased, consider this: her garden was awarded a Gold Medal by the show judges, the Sunset Magazine Award, the Pacific Magazine Award, the 425 Award, the Gala Choice Award, and the American Horticultural Society Award. Did I get them all? Did I get them all right? Wow — that’s nearly every award given out at the show. (Mid-show update: Add one more ribbon to the garden! Saturday evening garden show attendees’ votes were tallied and the People’s Choice Award was given to Jessi and Noah’s fantastic farm fantasy!)

During the gala dinner, Roger Swain, one the judges and PBS The Victory Garden Star, approached Jessi and me to congratulate her on her garden. Who knew how much of a flirt he could be? After Jessi somewhat meekly asked, “Did you like my garden?” Roger ribbed back with a genuine smile on his face, “Well, did you see all the medals? Do you think that’s enough? I think you got them all. Of course, I like it.” We continued to chat, and before he headed off to meet others, Roger patted Jessi and me both on the back while reaching into his bag to extract a gift of a kumquat for each of us, “Being horticultural ladies, I know you’ll know what this is. These are the last kumquats you’ll see for a while. I brought them from Florida where the crop has now frozen. And the California crop is quarantined. Enjoy!” I suppose in many ways — at least for me — these small bites of citrus were a unique award equal in many ways to the ribbons and statues now adorning Jessi and Noah’s garden. Roger is, afterall, the Julia Child of gardening television to an old hat like me.

Noah, Jessi’s son and co-designer, was so proud of his achievement that the ribbon for Gala Choice eventually became part of his outfit. And, his pride was hard earned. Not only did he conceptualize many of the elements in the garden, but at eight years old he worked for hours on 3D renderings of his concepts and helped construct elements like “the hatch” and a bridge that became key recycled elements in the garden. Sadly, Noah was too young to be allowed on the construction floor. I’m certain had he been there, he would have been the one called “Boss”. Someday he likely will be if his enthusiasm says anything about his future in the garden.

Gussied Up at the Gala in Front of Jessi's Edible Garden

Gussied Up at the Gala in Front of Jessi's Edible Garden

Last night, at the Arboretum Fundraiser Gala during which donors are allowed an early peek at the gardens and bid on silent auction items like my garden coaching session donation,  Jessi and I enjoyed some time relaxing while sipping some of the local, award-winning wine donated by Domanico Cellars for her display. (We had to crack open a bottle to celebrate after all, right?) As Jessi sighed in happy, glowing relief, she commented, “Creating one of these gardens is like giving birth.” Together we laughed as I quipped back: “I guess that makes me your Doula.” Fortunately, she hadn’t actually just had a child, so we toasted the garden, continued drinking wine, and reveled in the moment. No, I wasn’t a co-creator. That was Noah’s job. Mine was to be there for a friend, offer encouragement, design feedback, support, comedy-relief, distraction, food runs, and hard work while she brought her fantastic baby to life. It was an honor, and I’m just as proud as I as can be!

Kudos Jessi and Noah — you deserve it all!

Want to see Jessi’s garden and other show gardens come to life? Check back soon for a link to a forthcoming edition of GardenWorld Report where I’m providing a guest report with a behind the scenes look at building show gardens at the 2010 Northwest Flower and Garden Show.

Or get down to the Northwest Flower and Garden show this week. The event runs from today, February 3-7, 2010. I’ll be at the show speaking this weekend, too!

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Spring 2009 Plant Sales in Seattle

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Newest Sale Updates Included Below…just scroll down…

Seattlites are in a spring daze of summer weather this week. It won’t last, but go ahead and dream. Start your shopping lists. Mark your calenders. Pull your weeds. Test your soil. Amend your soil. And get ready. The best spring plant sales around are just, well, around the corner. Following are a few of the many not to miss:

Organic Buttercrunch Lettuce

Organic Buttercrunch Lettuce

Lake Washington Technical College Environmental Horticulture Spring Plant Sale

When: Friday, April 24th-Saturday, April 25th and Friday, May 1st-Saturday, May 2nd . 9am-3pm each day

Where: 11605 132nd Avenue NE Kirkland, WA 98034

My alma mater! Find a huge array of perennials, woody shrubs, annuals, hanging baskets all propagated and cared for by students for the benefit of the program itself. Plus, Northwest Nurseries will be offering wholesale prices on prime trees, shrubs and perennials. This is a not-to-miss event!

Tilth Edible Plant Sale

When: Saturday, May 2-Sunday May 3, 9am-3pm each day

Where: Meridian Park in the Wallingford Neighborhood

Want to check out some city chickens? Need some organically grown edible starts or herbs or perennials or interested in composting? Or, maybe you just want to spend a day outdoors with the family. This is a great spot for all of these choices — and more!

Florabundance! Seattle Arboretum Foundation Plant Sale

When: Saturday, April 25, 9am-5pm & Sunday, April 26, 10am-3pm

Where: 7400 Sandpoint Way NE Seattle, WA

Species cultivators, plant collectors, and fine specialty nurseries will be on hand. Consider joining the Seattle Arboretum, which will get you into the sale early on Friday, April 24th from 5:30-8pm.

Master Gardeners Plant & Book Sale

When: Saturday, May 2, 2009, 8am-5pm and Sunday, May 3, 2009, 10am-3pm

Where: UW Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) in Seattle, WA

Proceeds support the Master Gardener Foundation of King County which is a not-for-profit organization formed to raise the funds needed to operate all of the educational programs organized and staffed by the more than 650 volunteer Master Gardeners of King County. These programs include 34 plant problem clinics, 11 demonstration / outreach gardens, 17 youth garden sites, free public classes in a variety of locations, a speaker’s list, 11 portable classroom teaching kits for use in schools and community groups and a diagnostics center in Seattle.

Are you involved in a local plant sale (or even one outside Seattle) that you would like to see listed on gardenhelp.org? Please feel free to submit it here, and we’ll post details for others.

New Sales Added!

Early Bloomers Sale
When: Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Graham Visitors Center at the Arboretum

The charming, volunteer-run sale features plants propagated from specimens in the Arboretum collection, as well as others donated to us by area gardeners. Shoppers will find a great selection of early-blooming perennials such as epimediums and trilliums, as well a wonderful array of young shrubs, conifers, and small trees. For more information, call 206-325-4510.

Broadview Garden Club Plant Sale

When: April 25th 10-2pm

Where: Broadview Thompson School on Greenwood and 130ish in Seattle.

Just in from Sue at Dunn Gardens: This may be a small sale, but it’s local and with some little treasures like Dunn Garden trillium and snowdrops. If you can”t get to the big ones, it’s fun and a good group. (If it can get up there, I tell you I’m grabbing some Trillium!)


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A Way to Win Free Garden Coaching

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
Don't Miss This Event!

Don't Miss This Event!

Tomorrow is the Seattle Tilth educational program fundraiser, Taste, Toast, Twirl. I feel strongly about this organization, so here I am mentioning it again as a last effort to encourage you to go buy tickets. And, in case this is an added incentive, Garden Mentors has donated two garden coaching sessions to Tilth to give away in their raffle. So, I suppose the coaching session won’t be completely free. But raffle tickets are cheap, proceeds go to a good cause, and gardening coaching isn’t the only thing you might win.

Plus, your ticket to this event will buy you a fantastic array of wine, beer, cider and soda tastings AND fantastic locally grown and prepared foods AND two bands. Oh, and don’t buy yet…with this purchase you’ll also get to support a great cause and spend the evening with like-minded, horticulturally inclined gardeners and farmers. And, if you look hard enough, you might find a garden mentor in the crowd as well.

See you there!

Buy Tickets Here.

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Seattle Tilth Localvore Fundraiser

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

Seattle Tilth is a fantastic organization that focuses on providing educational resources in organic, sustainable gardening practices to the community. Everything from their composting and city chicken programs to their spring edible plant sale brings our community together and helps build better gardens and gardeners all over Seattle.

Don't Miss This Event!

Don't Miss This Event!

Later this month, on November 12th to be exact, Seattle Tilth will be celebrating 30 years in the community by offering a fantastic fundraising event at The Herban Feast. Tickets start at $55. And that’s a bargain for what you’ll get — two great live bands, freshly prepared local foods, and a wide array of great wines, ciders, sodas and beers to taste. And, yes, the beverages are all locally made as well. Yours truly even got her hands sticky pitching in to help make the wines at Domanico Cellars!

Domanico Cellars will be premiering their first commercial vintage at this event. Owned by Jason and Jill Domanico, this winery is truly a community effort and a labor of love. Jason, the wine maker, started out making wine as a hobby. Quickly, he learned that he’s pretty dang good at it, so he jumped through a maze full of hoops to become licensed and bonded. The Domanico Cellars 2006 vintage is the first available for sale, and you won’t want to miss the opportunity to taste it (and buy some) at this fundraiser for such a good cause. Jason and Jill will be on hand to discuss the wines, as will my husband Bob,  who is the assistant wine maker at Domanico Cellars. I’ll be there too to raise a glass in support of Seattle Tilth. I hope you’ll join me to Taste, Toast and Swirl!

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