Ideas, inspiration abound at Garden Expo
Do you enjoy gardening? Are you shopping for something special for Mom? Are you looking for a fun activity? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you owe it to yourself to go to Garden Expo on Saturday.
This annual free event, billed as “the show for gardeners put on by gardeners,” will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in and around Spokane Community College’s Lair Student Center.
This will be the 15th annual Garden Expo staged by the Inland Empire Gardeners, and it has certainly become popular over the years. As it should. The event features more than 300 garden-related vendors who sell plants, products, services and craft items including garden art.
“Last year’s show had an attendance of over 30,000 people,” ViAnn Meyer, president of the garden club, said. She said the expo will have more than 60 new vendors, including a maple nursery from Pleasanton, California.
In addition to Maples for All Seasons, other new plant exhibitors will include two from Oregon, the Rogerson Clematis Collection and Little Prince Nursery.
The show is organized and run by volunteers from the garden club, which was founded in 1994 and boasts more than 400 members. It is a nonprofit organization that considers Garden Expo to be its most important community service event of the year.
It also puts on the Spokane in Bloom garden tour each June – this year’s will be June 21 – and established the Garden of the Month contest along with co-sponsors Northwest Seed & Pet and The Spokesman-Review. The club meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at CenterPlace, 2426 N. Discovery Place, in Spokane Valley.
I’ve been attending Garden Expo since its inception and always have a good time. I like to pick up unusual veggie seedlings, herb plants and lily bulbs, see what’s new and maybe pick up something decorative for my garden. Last year, I got an amazing deal on some nicely constructed birdhouses.
In addition to the vendors, there will be garden clubs represented at the show. WSU/Spokane County Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer gardening questions.
Throughout Saturday, there will be free seminars and demonstrations on a variety of garden topics. Visit the Inland Empire Gardeners’ website, www.tieg.org, for a list of vendors and other information.