Arlington Garden Club

Priscilla J's Garden

Priscilla now realizes that her mom got her started gardening even though she wasn't very happy about it the time. It seems growing up in South Dakota it was her job to recycle the greywater from the family ringer washing machine to water her mom's garden. She did not enjoy hauling that water out to the garden from the basement but acknowledges that is how she got started. Her mom was definitely a gardener.

Priscilla and her husband, Daryl, raised their children in Burien. Her daughter found their present home in Stanwood 25 years ago when she lived up here. Of course, Priscilla dug up most of her prized plants when they moved. Lots of rhododendrons made the move. She has had to make some adjustments as their place is mostly shady. When they first came to Stanwood there were lots of woodland creatures such as deer, fox, and raccoons but not so much nowadays.

She has learned that it was a good idea to move her hostas into pots and to group them for a showy presentation. That way the snails and slugs don' t bother them as much.

She’s a self-described bargain hunter. If you have noticed all the interesting specimens Priscilla brings to our monthly meetings you will see she has quite a wonderful collection of vases, all garage sale, and thrift store treasures.

Priscilla says that the time just flies when she is in her garden, she enjoys seeing what each day brings in her garden. She has quit ordering from catalogs as she has been disappointed too many times. Her favorites are Japanese maples and peonies. Priscilla is thankful that her daughter and son-in-law come over every couple of weeks to help with the yard. It's getting a little harder to get up and down these days.

Books, websites and other fun and helpful information

HD Clump website

Kian S shared this link. It's a great website for exploring fun and informational garden videos. Explore the Chelsea Garden Show, for example. Or a video on A to Z gardening. If you're into cooking or documentaries there are many more videos to explore. Click here: hdclump

Ask Dorthy

Dorthy Massey gave a presentation at one of our club meetings about solutions to garden problems. Members also asked questions and she answered. On our Members Only page we've included a handout but the public can view her YouTube channel or check out her Facebook page. Thank you Libby A for sharing this.

Karen Chapman of Le Jardinet Designs

One of our favorite local gems is Karen Chapman of Le Jardinet Designs. She's a garden designer, speaker, teacher and author. Check out her website, Le Jardinet Designs and make sure you take a peek at her blog while you're there. Karen's three information packed books are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Charles Dowding - No-Dig Gardening

Charles Dowding is a renowned market gardener who advocates a "no-dig" gardening method for vegetable growing. He also has a YouTube channel where he provides vegetable growing tips. He gardens in Zone 8 which is similar to our NW climate, so his tips are useful.

Monty Don - advice from a British gardener

Monty Don OBE is a British gardener and presenter of the long running gardening show Gardening World (which is available via YouTube or HD Clump).

Piet Oudolf Garden Inspiraton

Piet Oudolf is the designer of the famous High Line Garden in NY and the Lurie in Chicago. He is famous for naturalistic gardening plantings. His website showcases pictures of the famous gardens all over the world that he has designed.

Margaret Roach's "A Way to Garden"

Margaret Roach’s website has useful interviews with various gardening experts in the US, useful gardening tips. She does, however, garden in upstate NY, so climate is more extreme than ours.

Garden Answer

AGC member Kathy E shared this website: www.gardenanswer.com. Laura and her husband Aaron post videos of everyday gardening they do in their garden in eastern Oregon. Laura is an experienced gardener. While growing up, her family owned a garden center and she worked there as well. They have 1.3 million followers on Facebook and post videos on Youtube.

Virtual Garden Tours

Here are a few recommendations published by the Everett Arboretum:

Highgrove Gardens is the home of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. Its gardens are spectacular--and sustainably managed.

Kew Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to over 14,000 trees and 50,000 different plant species.

The Gardens at Waddesdon Manor were built by Baron de Rothschild (well, actually by his gardeners) and are an amazing example of Victorian garden design.

Another site worth visiting is The National Garden Scheme UK which is the largest funder of Hospice UK's work. Owners of private gardens open up their gardens to the public to raise funds for nursing and health charities and made an annual donation of £3 million in 2019. This year, private garden owners are providing virtual tours of their gardens.
Here is another link to 11 gardens you can visit virtually: https://www.gardensillustrated.com/gardens/gardens-to-visit/virtual-garden-tours-best/ (the Everett Arboretum recommendations are also among the 11 gardens listed).

Potpourri

Member Garden of the Month

Priscilla J's Garden

Priscilla J's Garden