Rainier Valley Garden Tour

Rainier Valley Garden Tour July 2010

 

Rainier Valley Garden Tour July 2010

Rainier Valley Garden Tour July 2010

Columbia City Station July 2010

Rainier Valley Garden Tour July 2010

Rainier Valley Garden Tour July 2010

Today I went on the Rainier Valley Garden Tour with a friend & my sister.  It was really very entertaining.  As always, it was a pleasure to walk around Columbia City.  The Rainier Valley gardeners were very friendly.  There were goats, dogs & lots of chickens.  The tour was divided into 3 pods: Columbia Flats, Genesee & Othello.  The Columbia Flats Pod was very accessible from the Columbia City Station.  All of the gardens were between the station & the Columbia City business district on Rainier Avenue S.  The Othello Pod (in Holly Park) was accessible from the Othello Station.  Sorry Holly Park gardeners, but we skipped the Othello Pod.  The Genesee Pod was in an ambiguous area, which can be part of Mt Baker or Columbia City, depending on whom you ask.  We drove there.  A hint to the garden tour organizers: it's a long way from any light rail station.  Look for the Rainier Valley Garden Tour (formerly the Columbia City Garden Tour) next July.

Georgetown Garden Walk

Georgetown Garden Walk July 2010
 

 

Georgetown Garden Walk July 2010

Georgetown Garden Walk July 2010

Georgetown Garden Walk July 2010

Georgetown P-Patch, Hat n Boots, Oxbow Park July 2010

Georgetown Architecture July 2010

Today I went on the Georgetown Garden Walk with my sister.  I've done the garden walk several times before.  I must say that the gardens have improved in the past few years.  Georgetown is a quirky Seattle neighborhood, isolated from other residential areas by Interstate 5, Boeing Field & the Duwamish Industrial Area (SoDo).  It's quite a mix of charm & seediness, with its own business district along Airport Way S.  The houses range from Victorian to contemporary, handsome to derelict.  Oxbow Park is the site of the Georgetown P-Patch & the locally famous Hat n Boots, now fully restored.  Georgetown feels like another world.  The Georgetown Garden Walk is an annual event that happens on the 2nd Sunday in July.

Tea & Trilliums

Tamias townsendii April 17, 2010

Pseudotrillium rivale April 17, 2010

 

Trillium grandiflorum April 17, 2010

Trillium kurabayashii April 17, 2010

I was invited to the Tea & Trilliums event in exchange for opening my garden to the Hardy Plant Society of Washington & the Northwest Rock Garden Society in August.  I am not a member of either group, but I want to see more of their gardens.  Even though I love Trilliums, my favorite was the chipmunk.