Floretum volunteers send dirt flying at annual hanging basket planting event

Rain got you down? Not these folks!

Despite the rainiest, cloudiest, depressing-est spring since record-keeping began in 1896, the Edmonds Floretum Garden Club volunteer army was all springtime energy and sunny smiles as they gathered Wednesday morning at the City of Edmonds maintenance facility in City Park to plant the more than 140 hanging baskets that will grace downtown Edmonds this summer.

It’s a spring ritual for Floretem, one of several ways the club works with the city to bring floral beauty to the downtown core. In addition to the hanging baskets, Floretum members plant the downtown corner gardens, the gardens at Hazel Miller Plaza, and this year will take on bringing a colorful floral display to the new Edmonds Museum Plaza.

Floretum volunteers filled 142 baskets with more than 1,500 plant starts raised in the city greenhouses — in a little more than an hour.

Edmonds Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Carrie Hite stopped by between meetings to thank the group. “I can’t express enough gratitude to Floretum for all the work you do to beautify Edmonds,” she said. “You bring color and joy to our downtown every year. Your efforts are appreciated by all who live here and everyone who visits our town.”

The baskets will remain at the Edmonds grounds maintenance facility in City Park for a few weeks while they grow and begin to flower. City crews will install them throughout downtown starting June 1.

— Story and photos by Larry Vogel

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