Arlington Garden Club

Barbara L's Garden

Barbara grew up in Marblemount, Washington, and attended the fabled "over the road" Concrete High School. In the course of their working years, Barbara, with husband Jerry and family, lived in many places in Western Washington. She retired from banking management in 2003.

Barbara and Jerry built a new home in Lake Stevens before she retired and they hired a landscaper to help with the blank canvas that comes with a new home. There began the gardening learning process for our club treasurer.

In 2010 the downsizing decision was made so the Lindbergs moved to their present home complete with an acre yard in Granite Falls. Barb says this is where she began gardening in earnest. Wanting to learn more she headed to Sorticulture Garden Arts Festival in Everett and bumped into a booth with members from several local garden clubs. Among the gathering of gardeners, it was decided that Arlington was probably closest to her.

Barbara says she had wanted to join a garden club for quite some time so that she might learn more about gardening. She filled out the membership application and shortly thereafter attended a members' gardens tour in the Gleneagle neighborhood. Barbara was a bit nervous attending not knowing a soul, but that was soon put aside by the friendly gathering of gardeners that welcomed her. She eventually became the club treasurer and how fortunate Arlington Garden Club is to have such a qualified person fill that position.

Barb enjoys Arlington Garden Club and says she has learned so much and misses everyone during this time of separation during the pandemic. She says gardening has filled some of that void but the duration has been frustrating. Gardening responsibilities are shared at the Lindberg home; Barbara orchestrating the ornamentals, Jerry tackling the lawn and veggies. Living in Zone 6, they battle bunnies, slugs, deer (not so much now thanks to fencing) and, of course, the weather associated with living a bit closer to our beloved Cascades. Her garden favorite is her Golden Smoke Tree.

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.

Floret Flowers

Here is another website shared by Kathy E that cut flower enthusiasts should definitely check out!

Floret Flowers is a family-owned business supplying cut flowers and seeds - it is located in Mount Vernon but is followed worldwide! Considered to be the country’s most influential farmer-florist, Erin Benzakein has shaped floral design trends, redefined micro-farming, and inspired thousands to grow and share seasonal flowers. Erin has a free three-part mini-course for people who want to grow a cut flower garden. She has published two beautiful books and has a third one in the works. Her story is fascinating.

https://www.floretflowers.com/

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

Barbara L's Garden

Barbara's Garden