Everything Grows

In 1964, our family moved to the Wenatchee Valley. My dad, Tony DeRooy, had just been hired as the first Landcape Supervisor at Rocky Reach Dam. Prior to that, he had worked for the Great Northern Railroad as the third of only three (ever) Superintendents of Parks. He had followed in the footsteps of my grandfather, Arie DeRooy, who had the position from 1934 until his death at Many Glacier Lodge on August 8, 1951. Growing plants, flowers and children was their life work. Anyone who knew these men, as well as the women who have stood faithfully by (thanks, Mom!) recognized their passion. This blog will be concerned mainly with dahlia and garden thoughts, but will also discuss things that are happening in the beautiful valleys, plains and mountains that we know as North Central Washington.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

WILL DRIVE FOR DAHLIAS - ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

In typical fashion, true to the generous character of the flower itself, the Snohomish County Dahlia Society has once again taken us under their wing. Following their own tuber sales earlier this month, they found themselves with over 400 leftover dahlia tubers. Just as they did last year, they offered them to our club to add to our tuber sale inventory. Since we have two more sale dates, we have a great opportunity to find new homes for these outstanding babies. I was happy to drive over to beautiful Snohomish County to pick them up from Ken Greenway, owner of Accent Dahlias, in Machias. Besides picking up the SnoHoCo donation, I also had the opportunity to see Ken's garden and get some idea of the sheer volume of dahlias he deals with. He usually grows about 5000 plants, representing new AC seedlings, as well as established varieties of his and other hybridizers. He just started planting yesterday, with hours (days?) of work ahead of him. After I left Ken's, I decided to drive to Everett to drop off a tuber order that I received from one of my Facebook friends. She lives in Tennesee, so I'd mailed her tubers to her a couple weeks ago, and she wanted to buy a few for her daughter. I had the flat-rate box all packed with tubers, and intended to stop at a post office to mail it, but since I was there, and I had the time, I entered the address in my Google maps app on my smartphone, and drove on over there. After that, I still had a little time before I was supposed to meet with Bernie Wilson in Snohomish, so I took the opportunity to stop at Steuber's, a favorite stop for Snohomish County growers. My little heart just went pitter-pat when I saw the large bags of earthworm castings that could be had for only $9.95 a bag! Lucky me - I bought two! I'm hoping that if I add these to the dirt that I plant in at the Tony DeRooy Memorial Garden on Emerson Street, the green earthworms that I have there every season will give into the peer pressure and change their color to a healthy pink - I'll keep you posted on that! I also was able to get some very cool 3-inch peat pots to use for my seedlings, some wire ties for tying up, and some nylon trellis stuff that I am going to experiment with, in place of stakes. Training young plants through the squares of the trellis can help the plants to remain straight as they grow up.

By noon, I was heading for Bernie's place in Snohomish. Lakeview Gardens are always an inspiration for me, and Bernie is always a source of information and ideas. He has been a true mentor to me for many years, and this year is not different. He shared some pretty nice cuttings and a couple tubers with me - some things I've never grown before, or have been unable to find. We also talked about seedlings, since I am asking him to grow a few of mine this year. It will be interesting to see if the seedlings I developed in NCW will grow the same in Snohomish County. He has three or four of mine, and also three that came from Dad. The support we get as a club, and that I get, as an individual, is so very important to my journey on the dahlia-road - I find that words fail to express the gratitude I feel to those who continue to lift us up in this way.

Bernie Wilson at Pybus Public Market, judging with Mike Alexander 
and NCWDS clerk Vic Bosche'

I ended my day with coffee in Redmond, with my dear dahlia-sister, Rosemary Freeman. There is nothing like spending time with strong, smart people like Rosemary, but the best part is just spending time with a friend who understands and shares my passion. We talked about all kinds of things, and the time for me to leave came much too soon. I hit the road about 4:30, heading east through Woodinville, Duvall and Monroe. You'd think that after a lifetime in Washington state, that I would get to the point where I take the natual beauty around us for granted - but the views never fail to take my breath away. A warm clear afternoon revealed The Mountain, highly visible on the southern horizon as I neared Monroe. No matter what direction I was heading, I saw mountains - the Olympics to the west, the Cascades to the east, and lush green forests of both evergreen and broadleaf trees, as well as rich river valleys where the Holstein dairy cows contentedly graze. They say that success is not getting to where you are going, but rather, the quality of the journey. The truth of this statement was evident in my 12 hours on the road yesterday - I returned home refreshed with my spirit refilled. I'm so grateful to SnoHoCo, Bernie and Rosemary for all they have done to encourage our efforts - Driving for Dahlias is a great way to spend a spring day!

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