Edmonds Floretum Garden Club presents Bob Zimmerman, owner of Chimicum Woods Rhododendron Nursery at its March meeting, Monday, March 21, at 11:15 a.m. via Zoom. He will introduce some of the best species rhodies for our Northwest gardens and the adventures that led him to collect the seeds.

Zimmerman says it will be part botanical, part political (how local conditions on the ground affect collecting), part cultural (living among tribal groups) and part spiritual (how the grandeur of it all affects us).

He fell in love with rhododendrons more than 50 years ago and began cultivating them on his kitchen stove. He now grows and sells species rhododendrons at his nursery, Chimacum Woods on the Olympic Peninsula. Species rhododendons have year-round interest as well as beautiful flowers. Some 300 species populate the collection in his Chimicum garden, providing a reliable source of seed and cuttings.

Zimmerman has traveled with botanists five times to China, to Tibet, to Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India, and to Japan. He’s had to brave adverse weather and leeches and climb rugged mountains to study the plants he loves so much.

There will be time for questions, and visitors are always welcome. To get the Zoom link, email edmondsfloretum@hotmail.com. You can read more about Floretum and help the club celebrate its 100th anniversary at edmondsfloretumgardenclub.org.