May 5 Column: Garden Expo
What is your idea of a dream garden event? Mine is a huge gathering of vendors selling oodles of lovely plants, attractive garden art and handy tools. I would educational activities to help me increase my gardening skills and food to keep my energy level up. And, best of all, free admission and parking. Yes indeed! Well, Garden Expo will take place next Saturday (May 11) and it is all that and more! Learn about it in my column, which you can read below:
Column: Garden Expo gives gardeners time to learn, play, shop
Garden Expo is every gardener’s dream event. When you combine a massive plant sale along with seminars and demonstrations that teach new skills, and throw in free admission and parking to boot, you’ve got a recipe for success.
Gardeners of the Inland Northwest have the Inland Empire Gardeners to thank for this wonderful annual event. It’s in its 20th year. It will be held Saturday, May 11 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Spokane Community College Lair, 1810 N. Greene St.
“Garden Expo is not just about a mad dash for plants first thing in the morning,” as ViAnn Meyer, president of the Inland Empire Gardeners, puts it. “It is meant to be savored and enjoyed for the entire day. There will be interesting garden talks, great food, live music, activities for kids, a garden railroad set-up, a flower show inside the Lair, and many cool vendors and organizations that you can meet and talk to.”
This event is put on as a community service project by Spokane’s largest garden club. Their members volunteer their time to plan and organize it. Their goal is to ensure attendees have a delightful experience while being surrounded by all aspects of gardening.
Organizations and vendors
In addition to hundreds of garden-related vendors, local gardening organizations will have information booths. Fifty new vendors will join in the fun, including Bonsai Akira Nursery of Portland and Courting Frogs Nursery, a Seattle-based business that specializes in carnivorous plants. All Decked Out Glass Art is a new art vendor featuring their fused glass wind chimes. Pyro Planters offers handcrafted planter boxes filled with succulents.
Just a sampling of local plant vendors includes Alpine Greenhouses, Blumenhaus, Desert Jewels Nursery, Elithorp Farm, Footehills Farm, Fruit Hill Farms, Gourmet Foragables, Lupine Nursery, Northland Rosarium, Prairie Sky Farm, and The Tomato Lady. To view a full list of vendors, go to the club’s website at tieg.org/garden-expo-attend and download the brochure.
The flower show mentioned by Meyer will be held by Floral Art Designers’ Judges Council inside the Lair Bigfoot Bistro.
Don’t forget that next Sunday is Mother’s Day. With all of the shopping opportunities at Garden Expo, it will be easy to come home with a special gift sure to please Mom. And if all of that shopping is fatiguing, there are 20 food vendors with a wide variety of options to rejuvenate you.
“This event is all about a celebration of gardening and the start of our growing season, the beginning of new life,” Meyer explained. “And this old gal known as the Garden Expo might have a little life left in her yet. And she might just surprise you.”
If you go to Garden Expo
When: Saturday [May 11] from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Spokane Community College Lair building, 1810 N. Greene St.
Details: tieg.org/garden-expo-attend
Demonstrations in the SCC conference room:
10 a.m. _ “How to Make Fire Cider” with Jessica Spurr of Earthly Apothecary
11 a.m. _ “Let’s Get Dirty: How to Make Soil” with Thom Foote of Footehills Farm
1 p.m. _ “Sumi-e Asian-style Watermedia” with artist Keiko Von Holt
2 p.m. _ “Growing Flowers for Drying” with Beth Mort of Snapdragon Flower Farm
Seminars in the SCC Auditorium:
10 a.m. _ “Deer-Resistant Landscapes” with Sue Bockelman of The Plant Pro
11:30 a.m. _ “Zen Lessons from the Garden” with landscape designer Barbara Safranek
1 p.m. _ “Down the Garden Paths of Scotland” with Oregon speaker and author Linda Beutler
2:30 p.m. _ “Beauty in the USA” with local gardening personality Phyllis Stephens
You can learn more about Garden Expo on the Inland Empire Gardeners’ website.
This week’s video
On another topic, this week’s video is about growing cool-season vegetable crops. The crops I planted during it are Swiss chard, beets, carrots and rutabagas (yes, rutabagas, for the first time ever!). There are two BIG tips that I share in this video that are worth learning about:
I’d love to hear what you’re growing in your veggie garden this year. Let me know at Susan@SusansintheGarden.com. Have a great week!