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| Click Here to download a copy of our February - March 2010 Garden Gazette in pdf format | ||||||
More Than Just A GardenOn Christmas day I promised Maeve a tea garden. When she was just a year old she was so taken with the ritual of drinking tea that whenever she heard me offer her mother Allyson a cup of tea she would climb up on a chair and sit at the table expecting her very own tea in her very own cup. Drinking from one of our cups just would not do. In fact, "tea" was one of her first words – maybe even the first. So, I thought it would be enjoyable for us to plant a tea garden this Spring. I will help her plant just a few 'tea-making' plants in a sunny location where she can walk all the way around her little garden without me, sometimes considered the garden grinch, having to continually warn her about stepping on other plants. It will be in a portable galvanized tub short enough so she can reach all the plants to water, weed, fertilize and harvest. Given her love for all flavors of tea we will plant chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, mints, and scented geraniums in this first garden. Then she can pick and mix fresh leaves and flowers to steep in her very own tea pot to serve in her very own tea cups. As the years go by Maeve will become more discriminating and decide what to put in and what to leave out of her garden according to her taste. At the end of each season we will dry leaves and flowers from these plants to use for tea during the Fall and Winter months. Tea will be served each day directly after her nap along with a small snack of cheese and crackers. Or, better yet, tea with whatever berries are ripe, picked straight from the garden while still warm from the sun and piled high on crackers with peanut butter. What better way to teach our granddaughter the rhythm of seasonal patterns in the garden? In warm weather we will drink our tea in the garden where we will discuss and enjoy the scents of lilacs, peonies, roses and honeysuckle. In rainy weather we will have our tea on the porch where she will see the changing landscape of the farm fields below and the snow-covered Cascades in the distance. And, in stormy weather we will sit in the potting shed huddled next to the old parlor stove and listen to the rain pounding on the greenhouse roof and the wind whistling down the chimney. As Maeve grows our conversations will grow and as the culture of our lives is so intimately entwined in our casual conversations she will surely learn both trivial and important things about her mother's life and about the women who came before her. She will hear how her mother worked to rebuild bridges and trails in National Parks, sleeping under the stars and going for weeks without a real bath. She will learn that her father's love of the outdoors is one of the many reasons her mother fell in love with him. She will realize that when I was growing up the acceptable careers for women were teaching and nursing while now the sky is the limit. She will come to know that the grandmother I drank tea with had marched in parades demanding voting rights for women. And that another great-great-grandmother, despite being orphaned at a young age, went on to college which was an unusual occurrence for women at the turn of the last century. She will learn that the women on her father's side of the family were from strong, pioneering families all of whom homesteaded here in Washington State in the area now known as La Conner. I will tell her that another ancestor helped establish the first apple orchards in Wenatchee and had a rose garden considered the best in Eastern Washington. And in this relaxed environment Maeve will learn to cherish her family and herself while nurturing her garden. She will undoubtedly experience the satisfaction of completing a project while enjoying the fruits of her labor. But perhaps more importantly she will learn how well tea, family stories and conversation go together as we spend time in the garden. |
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A Fascination for Hellebores
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Photography ContestIn conjunction with our Annual Winter Festival: A Fascination for Hellebores, we are excited to announce our Winter Gardens Photography Contest. Amateurs and professionals alike are encouraged to participate by submitting up to two digital images of previously unpublished images in two categories (1) artistic (in-camera) impression of a winter garden or single plant utilizing close up, multiple exposure or special focus techniques and/or (2) an artistic (computer) enhanced impression. 5 x 7 photos should be mounted on black mat board with a 2 to 3 inch border. An entry coupon should be affixed to the back of each mounted photograph. Entry forms are available at the Nursery or you may request one at chrisnsy@fidalgo.net. Entries must be postmarked or delivered to Christianson’s Nursery & Greenhouse by Friday, February 19, 2010. Submittals to Christianson’s Winter Gardens Photography Contest will be professionally judged by Scott Terrell, Photography Editor for the Skagit Valley Herald. Prizes will be awarded to first, second, and third place winners. Christianson’s Nursery & Greenhouse reserves the right to use the images in future publications with proper permission and acknowledgment. For additional information call (360) 466-3821. |
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Time to Plant Sweet PeasAn heirloom Sweet Pea that you should plan to add to your garden this year is ‘Blushing Bride’ (Lathyrus odoratus), a Spencer variety of sweet pea known for it large, ruffled petals. This old-fashioned climber grows to 6’ and can adorn a railing or trellis or climb a woven twig tee pee. Planning a summer wedding? Nothing could be more elegant than these fragrant, long-lasting blooms. Blushing Bride is easy to grow from seed and you will be rewarded with soft pink and cream blooms contrasted with blue-green foliage. |
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Flower and Garden ShowPlan to visit us at the 2010 Flower and Garden Show February 3 through 7 in Seattle. This year the Nursery is participating in the Container Gardening Exhibition located on the Sky Bridge. We are keeping our theme a surprise so you will have to come and see for yourself. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite entry! It’s not too late to sign up for the buses leaving Christianson’s Wednesday through Saturday at 8:30 am and returning at 6:00 pm. Call 466-3821 to purchase your combination bus ticket and show pass. The Saturday “party bus” is a first for us and you will ride in style and be served “libations” and hors d’oeuvres and a good time will be had by all! - Joanne Romann |
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Pruning Overgrown Fruit Trees
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Digital Photography Series
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Celebrate Mardi Gras!
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Ready, Set, Grow
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A Method in His Madness |
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Sensational Seeds with Ed Hume
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The Art of Pruning Roses
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Mosaic Design Class
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Growing Vegetables in Containers
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Spring Garden Walk
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Allées to Espaliers
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What’s New in 2010?
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Open 9am to 5pm daily |
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Christianson's Winter - Spring Calendar 2010
(back to index ) If you wish to attend any of the following classes or events, please call our Mount Vernon Nursery at (360) 466-3821. Preregistration is required for all of our classes, unless stated otherwise. |
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CLASSES & EVENTS
(back to index) See details above this list.
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Click Here to download our February - March 2010 Garden Gazette in pdf format
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