Master Gardeners
Follow this link to watch a short video of the Perennial Demonstration Garden: https://youtu.be/URJ1MpCQzsY
Comments by Dode Carlson, Leader, Master Gardener Perennial Demonstration Garden:
In 2021 we celebrate 30 years of partnership between the Evergreen Arboretum and Master Gardeners of Snohomish County. There was a wood wisteria arbor at the entrance and a 30 foot border there was our starting point. Recordkeeping began in 1995 when Marylou Hat and Wink Cushman led the team, enlarging the Master Gardener Border to our current 200 feet. By 1999 we also had an agreement with the City thanks to them.
Our bed has had several leaders over the years. John Marsh, Janice Tallman, Michele Duncan and now Sandy Schmacher and myself. In a Herald interview, Sandy described our garden as “stunning”. But in the summer of 2015 all our plant material and soil was destroyed because of arsenic mitigation in the Arboretum, and we were left with just three trees.
We were slated to begin replanting In October of 2016, and that June I saw my dear friend Sandy at the arboretum plant sale. It was a very rainy day and perhaps she took pity on me as I asked her if she would please help me make it stunning again. To my joy she agreed.
So starting from scratch, Sandy and our team turned the garden into the show piece we have today. In December of 2020 we also helped sponsor Wintertide Lights, which brought greater recognition of the Arboretum to the general public. I tell our Master Gardeners that we are not just tending our wonderful garden. We are committed partners to the soul of this wonderful place. I trust this will still be true in another 30 years.
