West Seattle, Washington
05 Friday
The 30th annual West Seattle Garden Tour is exactly one month away – on Sunday, June 28th. Today, the tour got a gift from Mechanics Bank – a $2,000 sponsorship grant, presented at the Mechanics branch in The Junction by vice president Robert Livingston, received by WSGT’s Jeff Daley. Twelve gardens from Alki to Arbor Heights are featured on this year’s tour; tickets are available now – online and at West Seattle Nursery (5275 California SW; WSB sponsor) – proceeds support grants that the WSGT itself gives to nonprofits; see this year’s recipients here, and find out how to apply for next year’s grants here.
(Photo courtesy Hope School)
Need plants? You can help the Hope School Garden Club grow by shopping at their plant sale tomorrow (Thursday, May 21). Hope’s Sally Heit explains, “I and a teacher, Ms. Visser, have been leading a garden club after school once week (Thursdays) and teaching students from 14 2nd grade to middle school about seeds, planting techniques, water conservation (we have a rain barrel), worm composting (we have a worm bin) and planting seeds (we have a greenhouse) and so many other fun things. We did our first sale last year, so this will be our second sale which we will host on May 21st for our Grandparent and Special Person school event, as well as the West Seattle community.” The sale will run 9 am to 4 pm Thursday on the patio of Hope’s north campus (4100 SW Genesee), with “assorted veggie starts and flowers.” Proceeds will ” support the purchase of supplies for the club, activities, tools and the purchase of a raised bed container.” Adult volunteers will handle the sales until 11:30 am, then students will take over (it’s an early-dismissal day for Hope).
If you have room in your garden or yard, perhaps you can give a healthy plant a new home this Saturday!
The Fauntleroy Community Association maintains box planters near 45th and Wildwood near and across the street from Endolyne Joe’s restaurant. This Saturday, May 23rd is the spring “planter party” – volunteers will refresh 27 planters with summer color. Some of the plants have grown too big for the planter boxes and are available to anyone who would like them. To help these boxes thrive in the future we are asking for people to pay what they can for the plants on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The plants are big, healthy and would make great additions to your landscape. There are some great bargains including:
2-Oriental arborvitae
1-Lawson cypress
4-Juncus Grass
2-Longstalk sedge grass
1-Euphorbia wulfenii
1+- variegated carex grasses
3-Evergold sedge grass
1-Wilma cypress
1-Juncus reed grassIf you’re interested, bring your shovel and tools at 9:00 am on Saturday morning so you can dig them out before the volunteer crew shows up at 10. Available plants will be tagged in red. These are big plants, so come prepared.
1:19 PM: Haven’t been to the Bee Festival yet? You have until 3 pm to get to the north side of High Point Commons Park (north of Neighborhood House at 6400 Sylvan Way SW), home to the West Seattle Bee Garden.
It’s a low-key festival but lots of opportunities to get info not only about bees, but about gardening in general.
5:04 PM: Adding more photos by WSB’s Torin Record-Sand – the rain and hail held off until right after the festival! Yes, of course there were bees at the festival, both around the hives:
And up close if you were interested:
Bee education, too, with the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association (who brought honey):
And the Washington Bee Atlas:
A chance to dance:
And/or to admire the Bee Garden:
We need bees – and they need us to help them thrive. The Bee Garden website has advice on how.
(Photos courtesy of West Seattle Junction Association)
9:51 AM: They’re here! The West Seattle Junction Association‘s annual hanging flower baskets have arrived in the past hour and they’re going up.
This year you’ll see 96 baskets in the heart of The Junction, “adopted” by local people and businesses to help cover the costs (WSB “adopts” one every year too). They were again this year grown by Van Wingerden Greenhouses in Whatcom County. We’ll head down in a bit for a closer look at some of them; you can see them by visiting The Junction, perhaps for upcoming events like this Friday night’s Wine Walk!
2:34 PM: Adding more photos, from WSB’s Torin Record-Sand:
And as forwarded by WSJA executive director Chris Mackay, here’s the grower’s list of specific plants!
Who Knew Orleans:
Calibrachoa Minifamous Uno Yellow+ Red Vein
Petunia Headliner Red
Verbena Lascar Mango Orange
Fruit Cocktail:
Calibrachoa Cabaret Neon Rose
Calibrachoa Cabaret Orange
Calibrachoa Cabaret Yellow
Spirits United:
Calibrachoa Cabaret Bright Red
Calibrachoa Cabaret Deep Blue
Calibrachoa Cabaret White
Sun Mixes
Mix #1
Dynamo dark salmon
Headliner Blueberry Swirl
Neo Cali Orange + red eye
Bacopa big falls white
Verbena mango orange
Mix #2
Headliner Lipstick Petunia
Indian summer petunia
Magadi basket dark blue lobelia
Ipomea solar power lime heart
Ipomea ace of spades
Mix #5 replaced bees knees mix with this
Who Knew Orleans
Mix #11 (replaced twice as nice with fruit cocktail)
Fruit Cocktail
Mix #14
Spirits United
Mix #15
SuperCal Bonfire Mix
Petcho Cinnamon
Petcho French Vanilla
Petcho Orange sunset
Shade
Mix # 16
Begon Groovy Orange
Creeping Jenny
Bacopa Big Falls White
Cha Cha Cali Diva Apricot
Mix # 19
Begon Groovy Red
Creeping Charlie (Glechoma)
Bacopa Big Falls White
neo Cali Double Yellow
(Richard Reed’s winning art for this year’s WSGT)
In addition to celebrating local garden and gardeners, the West Seattle Garden Tour raises money to help local organizations grow. But to get it, you have to apply for it, and next year’s applications are being accepted right now – here’s the announcement sent to us to share with you:
Each year, the West Seattle Garden Tour, a 501(c)(3) organization, provides grants to other nonprofit organizations for projects that fit our mission — to promote horticulture, education and artistic endeavors within West Seattle and neighboring communities. The 2027 grant cycle is now open. Nonprofit organizations with eligible projects are invited to apply.
Our 2027 grant application form and guidelines are now available at https://www.westseattlegardentour.org/grants. Completed applications are due by midnight July 15, 2026. Grant requests are usually in the $2,000 to $6,000 range with some requests higher or lower.
Accepted projects would receive funds in March 2027.
ABOUT WEST SEATTLE GARDEN TOUR: Since its inception in 1995, West Seattle Garden Tour has been one of the premier garden tours in the Northwest, as well as a fundraiser for local nonprofits. The West Seattle Garden Tour donates approximately $50,000 each year to local grantees in support of their horticultural, educational and artistic missions. Over $600,000 in grants has been awarded since our inception.
The 2026 garden tour is on Sunday, June 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are now available for sale online and will also be sold in select retail outlets beginning in early May. More information can be found at westseattlegardentour.org.
You can’t have a “bee garden” without bees. So these bees showed up just in time for the heart of spring, and beyond, at the West Seattle Bee Garden in High Point. Thanks to Amy for this update (with video and photo):
Meet the new neighbors!
We’ve recently installed new honeybee hives at West Seattle Bee Garden. The bees are settling in to their new home, and the garden is starting to come alive for spring.
We are also gearing up for the annual Bee Fest, May 16th from 12-3 pm, where the community can come for some bee demos, local honey, enjoy some family friendly activities, and get some gardening advice.
For anyone interested in volunteering, please contact wsbeefest@gmail.com.
It’s been 13 years since the West Seattle Bee Garden was launched on the north side of High Point Commons Park (Graham/Lanham).
11:50 AM: It’s a mellow open house happening at West Seattle Nursery (5275 California SW; WSB sponsor) right now, as proprietor Marcia Bruno describes it, but full of highlights. Want to learn about bees? Washington Bee Atlas volunteers are there:
WBA is working to identify and map our state’s wild bees, and the plants that they favor.
You can find out how to volunteer! Also at the open house, West Seattle author Lori Kothe and her picture book “Birds Near My Home in the City by the Sea“:
(If you can’t get there today, WSN is selling Lori’s book and should have some signed copies too.) After noon, a special highlight – WSN’s own Chelsea Ginnis launching Nosegay Gardens, and will be there to talk about it and the plants she’ll be selling. The open house is on until 2 pm.
1:59 PM: We went back to catch up with Chelsea, who is a fulltime WS Nursery employee and now a wholesale plant grower/seller. She’s focusing on roses and perennials, telling us that if she grows annuals, they’d mostly be “edibles.” She’s also excited about helping educate gardeners and plans to post about rose care this coming week on her website. (She’s actually been in business as a landscaper under the Nosegay Gardens name since 2022, but now she’s no longer taking new clients in that business and focusing on plants – which you of course can buy at WSN, which is open 9 am-7 pm this time of year.)
(File photo from recent compost giveaway in Highland Park)
Tomorrow’s the day that GROW will be sponsoring a compost giveaway at Westcrest Garden P-Patch (9000 8th SW) – 10 am to 2 pm Saturday or while the free compost lasts. It’s in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities and the Department of Neighborhoods as well as the Westcrest P-Patch community team. Bring your own bucket and shovel
(Photo from Westcrest compost giveaway last year)
Another chance to pick up free compost in West Seattle! Here’s the announcement sent to us to share with you:
GROW will be sponsoring a FREE compost event at Westcrest Garden P-Patch (9000 8th SW) on Saturday, April 11, from 10 AM to 2 PM or until compost runs out. Seattle Public Utilities and the Department of Neighborhoods have worked together with us and the Westcrest P-Patch community team to supply the neighborhood with up to 60 yards of compost. Bring a bucket and a shovel if you have one.
“
Today we welcome our newest sponsor, Fruits to Fronds Garden Design. New sponsors get the chance to tell you what they’re all about – so here’s what Fruits to Fronds Garden Design wants you to know:
Fruits to Fronds is a full-service gardening and landscape design business that has been located in West Seattle for over 28 years. Owner Shannon Toal has been providing the greater Seattle area with beautiful outdoor spaces that are as ecologically beneficial as they are attractive. Her experience and expertise can be found in the many types of gardens she has designed and installed. From native plants to zen gardens, pollinator to bird and butterfly friendly gardens, Shannon and the Fruits to Fronds crew are committed to developing environmentally sustainable gardens that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
What sets Fruits to Fronds apart is their commitment to blend environmental thinking with garden design. They are committed to creating landscapes that can help support Western Washington’s native flora and fauna. This is exemplified by their Backyard Bee Project, which seeks to support native pollinator Mason Bees with shelter and food as they pollinate your garden. The best part – Mason Bees don’t sting or bite! The Fruits to Fronds team is proud to offer bee shelter installation.
They will introduce bee cocoons and provide annual care as the insects progress through their life cycle.
Fruits to Fronds offers a suite of gardening services from initial design and installation to ongoing maintenance. From recurring monthly visit to keep your garden looking its best or just a seasonal visit, the Fruits to Fronds team can accommodate any level of work.
General Services Include:
-Garden design and installation
-Garden renovations and clean up
-Regular maintenance and weeding
-Fruit tree and specialty pruning
-Bee house installation and care
-Rock work and hardscaping
Whether you’re looking to just maintain your existing garden, or completely rethink your personal landscape, Shannon and her team at Fruits to Fronds are happy to discuss how to bring out the best in your garden and yard.
Fruits to Fronds, LLC
Website fruitstofronds.com
Email fruitstofronds@gmail.com
Phone 206-355-7600
We thank Fruits to Fronds Garden Design for choosing to advertise their services by sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB. Interested in joining our sponsor team? Please email WSBAdvertising@wsbsales.com for information – thank you!
12:09 PM: Thanks to Kay from Highland Park Improvement Club for the photo and update:
We have lots of excited gardeners getting free SPU compost plus free seeds and plants to swap- and complimentary coffee and cookies from the Highland Park Corner Store.
We are also kicking of a really fun fundraising auction. One of our board members acquired an amazing donation of 70 architectural ceramic planters which we will be offering via online auction starting today through March 12.
Find the bidding site here:
The compost giveaway is at 1116 SW Holden, on until 2 pm or until they run out.
1:05 PM: Just stopped by. Compost left! Some plants and seeds too. We’ll have a separate story later with more on the planter auction.
(Photos courtesy West Seattle Nursery)
That’s the newest thing flowering for West Seattle Nursery (WSB sponsor) – their Grand Prize trophy from the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival! You might recall their call – and community members’ response – for books to include. Here’s what they became:
Here’s how WSN announced the win:
Many long days went into building this display, and we are so proud of what our crew created. Thank you to every person who worked tirelessly to bring our garden library shed concept to life.
The care poured into every small (and not so small) detail is what makes this woodland escape feel so effortlessly homey.
“Where Stories Take Root” was designed as a cozy reading retreat nestled among ferns, shade-loving shrubs, and trees, a space where structure and landscape blur together. A deck extends over a gently moving pond, wooden bowls drift and softly knock against one another, and a sunken seating circle invites you to slow down and stay a while. Look up and you’ll find a chandelier crafted from books. Look closer and you’ll see pages fanned into floral forms. Every detail has a story.
Also:
People often ask where those big Madrone branches on the corners came from. One of our employees has Madrones in his yard and these were broken off during a wind storm.
You can see how many of those donated books were used. Again, thank you to the community for stepping up and helping.
You can see the display firsthand at the Flower and Garden Festival – at the Convention Center downtown – through Sunday (February 22).
(SPU file photo of a compost giveaway event)
The next event at the past-and-future Highland Park Improvement Club site is one week from Saturday – pick up free compost – 10 am-2 pm February 28. HPIC’s announcement says, “In partnership with Seattle Public Utilities, we will be offering free compost from Lenz Enterprises for members and neighbors to pick up. Bring your shovels and buckets to the HPIC parking lot to swap seeds, share extra plants, load up on compost, and help your plants and neighbors thrive! There will be free coffee on-site. One load per household, please.” RSVPs not mandatory but appreciated – go here!
As sunny days like today remind us that gardening season is near, West Seattle Nursery (WSB sponsor) is inviting more kids to join the Growing Gardeners Club, which will be involved with a demonstration garden that WSN will launch soon. WSN’s Marie McKinsey explains, “This month we are inviting kids to decide what we will be planting in the garden. We have a questionnaire for them to fill out, and we will announce the ‘winners’ in early March.” Kids can answer the questionnaire at the nursery (5275 California SW), and it’s also in the first issue of a new Growing Gardeners Club newsletter for parents, which Marie explains “will enable us to share more content, like videos and links to various resources.” If there’s a budding gardener in your home, sign up for the newsletter here – and see the first edition (with the aforementioned questionnaire) here.
“Thank you” is one of our favorite phrases, so we’re happy to share this message for you about the request we published from West Seattle Nursery (WSB sponsor) a week and a half ago, as they planned their exhibit for the upcoming Northwest Flower and Garden Festival. WSN’s Marie McKinsey emailed the photo and message:
We asked you to put out the word that we wanted old books. This is a FRACTION of what we got. Thank you and the community!
West Seattle Nursery (WSB sponsor), featured here earlier in the week for a big donation, now has a request for you:
We need old books for the display garden we are doing for the NW Flower and Garden Festival next month.
It doesn’t matter what the subject is and people should not donate books they want to get back. We will be breaking some of them up for part of the project.
If people want to clean out their shelves, they can bring their old books to the Garden Center. We have a Book Drop table set up there.
West Seattle Nursery is at 5275 California SW.
Another holiday-greenery advisory, this time from the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) Garden Center:
South Seattle College Garden Center dates and Hours for the Holidays!
Garden Center is open until December 20th! We have Holiday Swags, Poinsettias, and beautiful blooming Christmas Cactus! Plus BUILD YOUR OWN WREATH FOR THE HOLIDAYS! All new indoor plants will brighten any home or office and make a wonderful gift! Open Thursday-Saturday from 10 am-3 pm until December 20th! We will reopen January 8th! Thank you for a wonderful year supporting our students!
The Garden Center at South Seattle College provides Landscape Horticulture students the opportunity to increase their knowledge of plants while gaining real-world retail experience. Plants available for sale are selected, propagated, grown and presented by Landscape Horticulture students. Additional plants are brought in from local growers. Proceeds benefit Landscape Horticulture Program projects. Visitors can also enjoy refreshments from the Otter Pup truck, offering a variety of coffee drinks and fresh pastries. It’s a great place to grab a treat while exploring the Garden Center and supporting student-driven horticultural work.
Cash and electronic payments accepted.
The Garden Center is located in the North Parking Lot at South Seattle College (6000 16th Ave SW) in the Puget Ridge neighborhood of West Seattle. There is ample paid parking in the north lot, and visitors can generally find free parking along 16th Ave SW with a short walk to the Academy from there. View our campus map for more details.
(WSB file photo)
West Seattle’s Puget Ridge Edible Park is one of a kind – community created, community maintained, community supported. It’s a place not only to grow food – but also to grow growers. Now a key component needs replacement, and PREP’s Stu Hennessey shares the call for support in making that happen:
Over the last decade of the volunteer run Puget Ridge Edible Park (PREP) we have met so many people from all over West Seattle that are interested in learning more about growing and harvesting locally grown vegetables.
The PREP seed money campaign has just started and will go on through December 15th.
This year we would like to raise $2800 to replace our aging polytunnel. The polytunnel makes a big difference in how much food we can produce for our open to the public food garden.
When you donate early it will go toward getting more funding awarded to the fastest starters in their campaigns.
Please consider donating to this, as it is our biggest fundraiser.
Never been there? Puget Ridge Edible Park is at 18th SW and SW Brandon.
(WSB photos)
Now until 2 pm, the holiday season is in full bloom at West Seattle Nursery (California SW and SW Brandon; WSB sponsor) for its annual Holiday Open House. The full event schedule is here; above, free pet portraits with Element 79 Photography are continuing until 1 pm. (That’s Henry, posing.) This is the second year that pet photos have been part of the open house – they were so popular last year, the nursery decided on an encore. Lots of patient pups and people waiting today, too:
And if you want to take a photo with one of the most famous dogs of all time, check out Snoopy, with his decorated doghouse and Charlie Brown (plus Woodstock!), outside the nursery’s shop:
They’ll be there for DIY photos throughout the season. Inside, lots of holiday decor, including ornaments on themed Christmas trees – the “apothecary” tree is new this year, with lots of old-fashioned items:
And don’t miss the “celebrity” tree:
If you’re ready at this early date to decorate your own tree, West Seattle Nursery already has some in!
A big load, we’re told, is expected Tuesday. Today’s open house only continues until 2 but the nursery is open until 5.
(WSB file photo)
Puget Ridge Edible Park (18th/Brandon) is a park where food is grown. The lessons community volunteers have learned while making it happen and helping it thrive are lessons you can learn from – and a “community garden leadership camp” this fall will give you that chance. PREP’s Stu Hennessey sent the announcement:
What: Urban farming, community garden leadership camp
When: September 20th through October 18th on consecutive Saturdays from 9 am to 11 am
Where: Puget Ridge Edible Park
1801 SW Brandon St. West SeattleWhy: Puget Ridge Edible Park is a permaculture community garden that supplies free local and fresh produce to many families in and near the Puget Ridge neighborhood.
With food security being a concern and with prices of high quality and healthy food prices climbing the fastest, growing locally is the best answer. We will share with you our story of success from acquiring space to season by season methods that you can use to develop your own neighborhood park as well as use in your own garden. To show commitment, a $25 donation the the Puget Ridge Edible Park group, a 501c3 is suggested but not required.
Interested? Find out more here.
One day every year, the West Seattle Farmers’ Market celebrates one of the season’s most bountiful harvests by offering zucchini racing – young marketgoers get free zucchini and components to turn them into “vegetable vehicles” which they can then send rolling down a short race course (our video above shows a round of last year’s racing). Tomorrow (Sunday, August 31) is the big day, 11 am-1 pm. Look for the booth at the south end of the market, with volunteers from the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle there to assist, as well as West Seattle Nursery (WSB sponsor). Marie from WSN tells us that their Growing Gardeners Club for kids gave members containers with soil and zucchini seeds back in March, in hopes some might grow their own to use in Sunday’s races. Then, earlier this month, members got “little race car kits with a set of wheels and stickers they can use to decorate their racers, and information about the Farmers Market races so they can participate.” A WSN rep will be there tomorrow to see if any members show up to race, and to provide club info to prospective new members. Again, this is 11 am-1 pm tomorrow, during the regular 10 am-2 pm market on California SW between SW Oregon and SW Alaska.
(Sweat bee on calendula, photo by Rosalie Miller)
Not all bees are created equal. The Washington Bee Atlas‘s mission is to identify and map our state’s wild bees, and they’re looking for more volunteers to join in, You’ll be able to talk with some of them – including West Seattle photographer/gardener Rosalie Miller – this Sunday (August 10) at West Seattle Nursery (5275 California SW; WSB sponsor). They’ll be tabling 10 am-2 pm, so you are welcome to drop in at any time during that window. WSN’s announcement invites you to “learn more about local pollinators, how you can get involved, and why wild bees are so important to our ecosystems.” Find out more about the Washington Bee Atlas here.
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