Column: Garden Expo in Spokane
Do you live in the Inland Northwest region of the Pacific Northwest? Then you owe it to yourself to go to Garden Expo! What’s that, you ask? Only the largest garden event around with free admission and parking! And over 250 garden-related vendors to help you get squared away for the garden season!
Garden Expo is the topic of my garden column for today. You can find all of the glorious details below.
Please also note that I will be giving a free presentation about “Vegetable Plant Disorders” at 1 p.m. I will also be selling and signing my books at a booth inside the Lair building. Please stop by and say hello!
Column:
by Susan Mulvihill
We Inland Northwest gardeners should take a moment to reflect on how lucky we are. Why? We have Garden Expo, the biggest and best annual garden event around. Sponsored by Spokane’s largest garden club, The Inland Empire Gardeners, it takes place at Spokane Community College’s Lair Student Union. The date is Saturday, May 13.
Parking and admission are free. The organizers offer interesting and educational demonstrations and seminars throughout the day.
Now in its 22nd year, this event is put on by gardeners, for gardeners. Residents and visitors alike are extremely fortunate that an occasion of this magnitude is even possible.
“The Garden Expo is the brainchild of The Inland Empire Gardeners, a local non-profit club that organizes the Expo annually for the gardeners of Spokane as a public service.”
ViAnn Meyer, club president
This year’s theme is “A feast for the senses!” which is appropriate when you take in the breadth of offerings.
Over 250 vendors will be selling a wide variety of plants, gardening products and services.
Examples of local vendors:
Sculptured Gardens, Tall Grass Farms, Trellis and Table, Cedar Mountain Perennials and Vicki’s Garden Center.
New plant vendors:
- Alpine Gardens from Springfield, Ore.
- Burkland Gardens from Mount Vernon, Wash.
- Gray to Green Nursery in Coeur d’Alene
- Noname Nursery which is based in Gaston, Ore.
Looking for something special to dress up your garden? Many vendors offer unique garden art such as mosaics, windchimes, glass products, metal works and stepping stones. You’ll also find lighting, planters, furniture and wood products. New arts and crafts vendors are Bayview Welding & Art from Everett, Wash. and Southbound Ceramics of Milwaukie, Ore. Two other new vendors are The Red Penguin from Emmett, Idaho, and Sandpoint Teak from Ponderay, Idaho.
Other shopping options include garden apparel, birdhouses and feeders, books, tools and pond supplies. As you stroll through the booths, remember that May 14 is Mother’s Day.
Several horticultural organizations will be on hand to answer your questions. They include:
- Spokane County Master Gardeners
- Inland Empire Dahlia Society
- The Friends of Manito
- Inland Empire Water Garden & Koi Society
- Spokane Orchid Society
- Inland Northwest Garden Railroad Society.
If you’d like to learn more about The Inland Empire Gardeners, be sure to visit their website at tieg.org.
Susan Mulvihill is author of “The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook” and “The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook.” She can be reached at Susan@SusansintheGarden.com. Watch this week’s video at youtube.com/susansinthegarden.
Garden Expo details:
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday [May 13].
Where: Spokane Community College Lair building, 1810 N. Greene St.
More information: tieg.org/garden-expo-attend
Demonstration Schedule
The following demonstrations will take place in the Spokane Community College Lair conference room:
10 a.m. – “Terrarium Building” with Katie Shipman and Dylan McGillen, owners of Planted Plant Co.
11 a.m. – “Cultured Sea Glass Suncatcher” with Amy Gurel, owner and artist of AJ Made With Love.
1 p.m. – “Hugelkultur: A Centuries-Old Raised Bed Gardening Technique” with Amy Hendricks of Dryland Revival.
2 p.m. – “Driftwood and Bead Spinner” with Linda Hagen Miller, owner of Northwest Spindrift.
Seminar Schedule
The following seminars will take place in the Spokane Community College auditorium:
10 a.m. – “Edible Spring and Summer Mushrooms in Your Yard” with Kelly Chadwick, founder of Spirit Pruners.
11:30 a.m. – “Fragrant Gardening, Fragrance-scaping, and Scratch & Sniff Plants” with Michael “Skeeter” Pilarski, lifelong student of plants and Earth repair.
1 p.m. – “Vegetable Plant Disorders: Why Blossom-end Rot and Other Weird Problems Occur” with Susan Mulvihill, author, columnist and Master Gardener.
2:30 p.m. – “A Feast for the Senses!” with Phyllis Stephens, local gardening expert.