Vibrant colors in the shades of a spectacular sunset greet me as I step out of the car and head for the front door.......

One of the fringe benefits of continuing to do marketing and website work for the best garden center in Northern California, Every Bloomin’ Thing, is that it gives me a reason to visit out of the way nurseries along our travels. Now most that know me realize that I don’t need a reason, but it does come in handy when Bob is with me in the car. “Oh look, that place looks pretty awesome!”, always trying to say it in plenty of time that he can get out of traffic and pull over. Wise man that he is, he usually keeps a book or his iPad in the car. As long as there is some shade to park under, he is happy as a clam whiling away reading or searching social media.

We had decided to take a drive into Mossyrock, a small town about 15 miles from where we were camped, after passing through it on our way to Mt. Rainier a few days before. Located on a beautiful lake with streams and rivers running through it we actually wanted to look into some property in the area. We had just come from a stop at Aldrich Berry Farm, where to our amazement we picked up 5 lbs. of FRESH picked blueberries for about $10.00. Plump and juicy, we ate the first ½ lb before we made it a half mile down the road. Visions of smoothies, yogurt topping and pie filling filled my head. 

The road out of Aldrich's took us by fields upon fields, acres upon acres, of daylilies in every color of the rainbow. You could tell the plants were young, with only a few leaves and flowers on each plant, but obviously this was a high scale production nursery for lilies. We came around another corner, still looking for the way back to Hwy 12 when the sign for DeGoede’s Bulb Farm & Garden appeared. Luckily this was one of those times when no traffic / no obstacles and a wide-open parking lot were right in front of us. Bob turns and says “I suppose you want to stop?” He is a wise man, isn’t he?

Vibrant colors in the shades of a spectacular desert sunset greet me as I step out of the car and head for the front door. I told Bob I didn’t think I would be long as it didn’t look to be too large of a retail establishment, but he just smiled. I surveyed the front displays and took a few pictures of flowers that I knew I could use for EBT’s FB posts and then I ventured inside. It wasn’t a large area but it was filled with a beautiful variety of most all of the plants that grow in the NW part of Washington. A lot of the same perennials and shrubs that we used to showcase at The Flower Tree, our nursery in Fallon, but also quite a few that I hadn’t seen before. I had a chat with the woman behind the counter and asked her about the acres and acres of plants I had seen outside. Turns out that DeGoede’s is one of the largest growers of daylilies, tulips and other tubulars in the NW area. I only wish that I could be here in the spring when the acres are filled with blooming tulips.

We talked for a bit about the varieties available and then I set out for the shrub area. I was walking through the pathways when I overheard another couple say “Did you ask her which way the display gardens were?” My ears perked up, “display gardens”, I am on it. Went back in and asked her about it and she says “Oh yes, right out the door and to the right – just follow the signs.”

It was about two minutes later when I rounded the corner and saw what was in store that I texted Bob and said, “hope you don’t mind – I am going to be a little while.” He didn’t of course, and the next hour I spent wandering through the winding pathways of the gardens, picking out my favorites, photographing ones that I thought I could use in future website posts, and just plain enjoying my morning. I thought of texting Bob, “Come in, you will love this!”, but really….he wouldn’t. Not like I do….and that’s why we are still married. His joy comes from facilitating me to do what I love and vise versa. More on this next week – “Bob’s Adventure”.