Bellevue Botanical Garden

A visit to the Bellevue Botanical Garden was inspiring for it's water features – it's also the home of the NPA Border, an organization I'd love to join.

Bloedel Reserve

Bloedel Reserve does everything right, starting with a rain permeable parking lot.The Japanese Garden is just one exquisite section in a two mile walk. I've brought back a DVD to share which has extensive pictures of the grounds by the former director, Mr. Brown.

Lewis & Little

A visit to Lewis & Little's brand new garden – opened a week earlier. It is essentially an outdoor display area for their concrete sculpture and paintings for the home and garden. I've brought home a copy of their book A Garden Gallery: the plants, art, and hardscape of Lewis & Little for club members to peruse.

Do you remember seeing one of these three plants on an earlier garden tour? Very rare and verrrry expensive?

Seattle Garden Shops

Just one of the incredible displays in a garden center, tempting shoppers to buy more plants!

Formal Gardens Talk

An inspiring EGC presentation on formal garden design was held Monday, February 1st at Arneson Acres Park in the Terrace Room. Speaker Duane Otto offered instruction based on examples from the 29 gardens he developed at Floradora in Watertown, MN as well as a recent tour of of England. Duane Otto has been creating beautiful landscapes for clients and at the University of Minnesota Arboretum since the late 1980s. He can be reached at 952-4443-1455 or 612-298-8578.

Houseplants

2010 Seed Order Forms Due

Move the turkey and cranberries aside, it's time to finalize next year's City Plantings. Each club's greenhouse representative has been asked to complete the newly standardized form and return it by December 7th. There will be an EGC re-orientation greenhouse meeting in January prior to the start of next year's seed planting.

City Hall Planter '09

The Hidden Valley Garden Club planted the following at the Edina City Hall in 2009: vinca, marigolds, and Ageratum.

Bare-root Trees & Shrubs

For spring delivery, now is the time to place an order for bare-root trees and shrubs. Cold Stream Farm is small, family-owned nursery in Michigan and sells to many conservation districts, clubs, and private landowners, specializing in wildlife habitat. For best selection and sizes, order now.

Autumn in the Garden Contest

Enter Fine Gardening's contest with photos of your autumn garden. Four winners will be selected based on beauty, creativity, and originality and will receive a Timelapse PlantCam from Wingscapes, approximate retail value of $79.00.

Stop Raking

Here's a timely article from Fine Gardening that advises you to stop raking:

"[r]aking and collecting leaves every autumn is a tradition without scientific basis. Research has proven that mowing leaves into your lawn can improve its vigor, and observation shows that unraked leaves in planting beds don’t smother shade-tolerant perennials."