Edmonds’ Floretum Garden Club has been beautifying Edmonds for a full century. To launch the club’s colorful year of centennial celebrations, Edmonds Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Angie Feser will speak at Floretum’s virtual Monday, Sept. 20 meeting. Feser will explain how Edmonds’ vibrant parks and flower beds impact the community.

Feser’s talk, “Edmonds Parks During a Pandemic,” begins at 11:15 a.m. Sept. 20 via Zoom. The public is welcome as space allows. For a link, contact edmondsfloretum@hotmail.com.

At a time when indoor activities are limited, Edmonds parks have become needed gathering places, and the city’s flower beds and hanging baskets are iconic to the city’s identity. Feser oversees 26 city parks, 160 flower beds, 150 hanging baskets, 47 planting containers and multiple landscapes and open spaces, plus she manages the city’s cultural arts and human services departments. Her talk focuses on the importance of the beautification program, in normal times and especially during a pandemic.

Founded in 1922, Floretum is the oldest garden club in Washington state. It began with a simple idea: to promote beautification of the city of Edmonds through flowers, plantings and horticulture.

Over the years, the club’s mission has grown to include educational activities, such as school gardens, youth projects, scholarships, and public lectures. The club maintains a P-Patch and delivers fresh produce weekly to the Edmonds Food Bank. They help plant the corners and hanging baskets, and they get down on hands and knees to help weed and mulch the city’s parks.

Floretum meets monthly (currently on Zoom), and guests are always welcome. Here’s a full list of the club’s 2021-22 speaker series:

Sept. 20, 2021: Edmonds Parks During a Pandemic, by Angie Feser, director, City of Edmonds Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services

Oct. 18, 2021: Shifting Gears Horticulturally: Simplify, Downsize, but Keep it Pretty, by Joe Abken, executive director, Kruckeberg Botanic Garden

Nov. 15, 2021: Grow It. Make It. Share It. Food: A Celebration, by Nancy Leson, award-winning food writer, radio personality, public speaker and Edmonds neighborhood coordinator for the Community Loaves project.

Dec. 20, 2021: The Basics of Successful Composting, by Fred Wemer, 17-year veteran Master Gardener and volunteer at Bellevue Demonstration Garden

Jan. 24, 2022: Magnificent Mycellium, by Taylor Fairbrother, educational representative with Fungi Perfecti, Olympia

Feb. 28, 2022: Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening, by Mark Hawley, Snohomish County Master Gardener since 2017

March 21, 2022: The Siren Song of the Species Rhododendron, by Bob Zimmerman, owner of Chimicum Woods Rhododendron Nursery

April 18, 2022: How the Dahlia Returned to America, by Martin Kral, who has been growing dahlias for 51 years

Help Edmonds Floretum Garden Club celebrate 100 years. Jump in and find your place at edmondsfloretumgardenclub.org.