Garden Field Trip

 Our garden club is affiliated with the Northwest Perennial Alliance and was formed about 20 years ago. Members have come and gone, with a few of us from the original club still hanging on.

Some of us live in the city, some in developments, some in more rural areas. A few of us are intensive gardeners, some of us keep a small home garden, some of us just putter a bit outside. Some of us just want to go on garden field trips and out to lunch. 

We've gone just about everywhere and seen every public and some private gardens in the area. This month's organizer decided on staying in the city. We visited the Center for Urban Horticulture, affiliated with the University of Washington, then went to University Village, an upscale shopping center near the university, for lunch and touring of the plantings in the people friendly center. 

Late summer brings blousy borders and seed heads glowing in the sun against deep blue skies. 

Yes, I sat here. Be assured that I take advantage of places to sit and rest while others stand to chat away. 

Seed heads of oat grass glowing in the sun. 

In the Fragrance Garden there were scented late blooming Daphne, Gardenias. and lilies. 

The Courtyard

Blooming border out back. 

And then it was lunch time in a nice Italian retaurant in University Village.

Afterward, Gretchen, our organizer, had suppiled us with maps of the plantings. I was tired but I decided I could enjoy the surroundings while finding the Starbucks and treating ourselves to the ultimate summer beverage, a Mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream and caramel drip! It's not something we have often, but, hey, we were looking at plants. See?

A favorite garden store we hadn't visited for a long time. 

It was a delightful long morning into the afternoon, we saw beautiful things, visited with friends, had good food, got lots of walking, and came home to our garden in the sun and no reason to do any work at all.