Remembering the Garden

Fifteen years ago, when I worked as a manager at the small downtown Impress Rubber Stamps store in Seattle, I was given the chance to move to their new location in Tukwila - a huge new "superstore" as it was referred to in one of the mailers sent out to Impress customers. This store was at least 5 times bigger than the Westlake location - and was full of display space and shelving to hold every paper crafting tool imaginable.

Of course I jumped at the chance. The new store would be closer to my home and I loved the challenge of working on such a large scale to create displays, manage more staff and also to enjoy the excitement of a new endeavor. The tables and displays at the new store had so much more space than the Westlake location. The old store got "full" with 10 customers, whereas the new store could easily accommodate 100 people! I thought about what would compliment all of those beautiful handmade greeting cards, hanging collages and handbound books that we would display. I decided that I would keep the displays fresh with flowers.

I had volunteered at Seattle Tilth when I was fresh out of college for a summer so I had some basic gardening skills. The instructors at Seattle Tilth showed me the best techniques for growing organic vegetables and flowers, building the soil and making your yard beautiful with natural methods. I knew I could grow all of the flowers I needed for the store, so I got to work. I remember being in my second week at the new Impress store, I rented a rototiller and cut through a big patch of lawn in the backyard. My plan was to create a cutting garden in a portion of my yard - 20 feet by 20 feet. Everything I grew would either end up in my house or at the store - a private plant nursery that I would use to decorate the store! 

The "superstore" opened in the fall, so by spring of the next year I was ready. I had ordered 100 allium bulbs, planted dozens of dahlias, zinnias (a beautiful green zinnia called 'Envy' that I had read about in a Martha Stewart magazine), delphinium, phlox and many other flowers and bulbs. I began bringing in the bounty from the cutting garden, rotating the flowers out as they bloomed - the store would have vases of roses, love in a mist, balloon flowers, statice, and lions mane. I had to remove about 30 columbine plants from an area at my mother-in-law and father-in-law's house, to make space for some new rockrose bushes, and I took the columbine flowers (about 200 stems) in for a spring display. Once I got going, I found I couldn't stop. Having a cutting garden at the ready allowed me to create little vignettes throughout the store - so that the experience of coming to the store was above and beyond  a regular store experience. 

We would put a vase of scarlet phlox next to a card with a phlox image on it. 

Or, we flower-pressed lavender stems and carefully glued them to a wedding invitation with a lavender image.

The staff would all help out - arranging a few lily of the valley stems or a huge spray of bright green euphorbia.

I admit that now and then, I did get carried away - a fallen branch from a neighbor's cherry tree became a grand display one day. The branch, in full bloom with 10,000 pale pink cherry blossoms, weighed a good 50 pounds and I spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to keep it from tipping over on the display table. It was absolutely beautiful though - and I felt that the customers who came into the store would appreciate it's beauty as much as I did. My vision was to create inspiration in many levels at the store - and nature has a way of inspiring all of us.

We released our "Garden Journal" collection this last week across the US - and I created the images while reflecting on my experiences in the cutting garden. I spent the better part of last weekend in the yard with my wife and kids (and dogs!), working on the vegetable garden, getting our new starts ready for transplanting and working on new yard projects. 

Things have changed for me in the garden. We reclaimed the cutting garden last fall - turning the former patch of flowers into a bed of 14 blueberry bushes. We had kept the cutting garden for some time - but the rest of our yard produced enough flowers as it is, and I didn't need to bring in armfuls of alliums to the store anymore. My appetite for flowers switched to a hunger for fresh blueberries - and my kids thought the berries would be much more exciting (and delicious!).

I realized how much of my art and design has revolved around the garden over these years. So this is my garden, revisited after a good many years. I hope you'll enjoy this collection - and get outdoors and enjoy your garden, and nature, too.

 

Comments

[Eileen M]

I have to say that the samples I saw took my breath away, as many have in the past. Thanks for this bit of background, I knew you had a wonderful eye for nature,and the ability to translate it into art that we can all share. I can't wait to get my hands on some of this collection. This is a busy time here in my garden in MN, too. (I should be outside getting tomatoes in the ground, right now!) Thank you for your inspiring art!

[Nancy Johnson]

I visited Westlake for the first time in 1993. I'll never forget my yearly visits there. [I'm from NJ]. The beauty contained in that store was unbelievable. I never made it over to the "big store", but maybe someday.

[Amy]

Once again you continue to amaze me. Love all your stories! Thanks for sharing. Amy

[Dave]

Thanks Eileen - what a nice comment! Our tomatoes have to go in soon too!

[Dave]

Nancy - you must make it over to the big store sometime when you are in Seattle!