Annual Expo a gardener’s delight

Mother’s Day weekend in Spokane means two things. For those of us who are moms, it means we get spoiled a bit on our day. Secondly it means it’s time for the annual Garden Expo at Spokane Community College.

Now here’s a really good idea for those of you who are always struggling to come up with the perfect gift for the mom in your life, especially if she is a gardener. Take her down to the Garden Expo, and turn her loose. If she’s like a lot of gardeners I know, she will have so much fun looking at all the plants and related garden art, you will be a hero for a long time; even if by some minor chance she doesn’t buy anything.

At last count the Expo’s organizers, The Inland Empire Gardeners, had more than 200 vendors signed up to bring their garden-related plants, art, food and clothing to this year’s show. There will be plants from some of the region’s best small growers, some of whom only sell at the Expo or farmers’ markets around town. Growing a vegetable garden this year? Come early for starts of heirloom tomatoes and plants that are proven winners in our wacky climate. Need unusual plants for those deck containers? How about plants for those shady, wet, dry or sunny spots where nothing else will grow? There will be vendors with those kinds of plants and more.

Garden Expo is a wonderful place to see the range of the talent of our region’s garden artisans. This year’s Expo will have metal, wood, glass and stone artisans offering birdhouses, furniture, sculptures, garden antiques, planters, pottery and more. Thought about doing your Christmas shopping early?

This year’s seminar schedule includes a talk by Marsha Rooney of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture on the Olmsted brothers’ designs for Spokane landscapes. Linda Beutler, a well-known writer and gardener based in Portland, will speak on growing and using your own cut flowers. Maralee Karwoski will talk on ways to jazz up containers and planter boxes. At 2:30 pm, Phyllis Stephens, Spokane’s garden maven, will talk about what makes good garden dirt and how you can improve what you have. When was the last time you laughed your way through a talk on something as mundane as dirt?

There will be demonstrations throughout the day on growing blueberries, growing and harvesting culinary lavender, the joys of old-fashioned and modern iris, growing the perfect orchid, dealing with slugs and the benefits of green tea.

New this year because of construction around SCC’s Lair will be the Garden Pavilion on the north side of the building. Come check out the kid’s area where budding gardeners can discover the joys of dirt and plants. A number of community garden organizations, including the WSU Master Gardeners, will be there with information.