May Newsletter: It's Time to Give Big May 1 -3!
Our Give Big Fundraiser is the Backyard Garden Renovation
We're renovating the Backyard Garden, and we need your help to do it. This is one of the older gardens in the Arboretum and time had taken its toll. But we have a plan--and that's where you come in.

As you can see in the conceptual drawing below, the plan includes a large patio area. What you can't see is the concrete benches designed to look like boulders or the concrete nurse log intended to show visitors how our forests regenerate themselves.

This is a major project, and we need your donations to make it a reality. All Give Big donations will be used to fund the Backyard Garden renovation.
Conceptual Drawing of the Renovated Backyard Garden
May Classes in the Arboretum: Get Ready for Summer
Saturday, May 6, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, in-person class

Sorry--this class is full. But consider joining us on May 20th for a free container planting demonstration.

For those of us who ever “oohed & aahed” over the hanging pots that decorated Everett’s main corridors, we had Dee Drake and her team to thank! So come learn from Dee and make your own beautiful and long-lasting hanging basket.
A free demonstration on Saturday, May 20, 12- 2 p.m.

Sandy Milam is a master of pairing plants for containers, among her many other talents. Learn what to pair and how fully to plant your container become a showpiece in your garden.
Celebrating Earth Day in the Arboretum

The temperature was comfortable, and the rain held off until later in the day. Families enjoyed a walk in the gardens. Little ones enjoyed the poetry bookwalk, courtesy of Everett Public Library, planted wildflower seeds, and got to take home bookmarks with nature poems and bee and butterfly charms. Parents enjoyed the poems hanging in trees thanks to Out on a Limb, our Poetry Month event. Everyone got to see trees being planted in the conifer garden. And Daisy, an Arboretum regular, got petted by admiring children.
This serious pair asked to decorate their pots with camellias.
Daisy and friends: Daisy loves to greet visitors in the Arboretum
Digging in the dirt might be more fun than planting seeds when you're little
It Turns Out--People (and Birds) Turn Out for Poetry

National Poetry Month and the first special event of our 60th Anniversary started off with a bang on April 1st with poetry readings by Rena Priest, Washington State Poet Laureate Emeritus; Rae Armantrout; and some members of the audience who had submitted poems to our contest.

Rain prevented us from strolling through the gardens to see the poems in the trees (we weren't total wimps--it was really pouring), but everyone enjoyed hearing the poems in the comfort of the classroom--as well as cookies and tea.
Rae Armantrout
Rena Priest
Ginger Zyskowski
Spring in the Arboretum

We're working in the gardens on Wednesday, May 3, and Saturday, May 20 from 10 a.m. until noon. We'd love to have you join us. Just show up with gardening gloves and tools (or use ours). If those days don't work, consider joining our plant sale volunteers on Thursday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. They're busy getting our donations ready for the June plant sale.

An added bonus for volunteers are occasional pop-up sales of plants blooming right now. Bring cash and take home a treasure or two.
Columns with Magnolia
April 15th work party: spring house cleaning continues
April 15th work party: more new volunteers show up to help clean thing up
We Rise by Constance Jones is one of our newer sculptures. We hope you enjoy these photos.
One warm hand. It was a cold spring so the mitten was probably appreciated.
All decked out in camellias and looking pretty in pink.
Support Your Arboretum by Joining Today. We Need You More Than Ever.
Take a moment to join or renew at www.evergreenarboretum.com and become part of the Evergreen Arboretum & Gardens family. Annual memberships come due in March of each year, but we can accept memberships at any time.

Your support is the key to our success. Your membership shows that you support our mission and the volunteers who dedicate themselves to the gardens. It is more important than ever to insure we remain strong and able to undertake significant projects once the pandemic is behind us. A robust membership base also shows the City that the Evergreen Arboretum is valued. You can join or renew online.
To contact Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens
email: contactus@evergreenarboretum.com
phone: 425-257-8597
mail: PO Box 13014, Everett, WA 98206-13014
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