Through its educational programs and charitable projects, the Vashon-Maury Island Garden Club promotes fun and interest in gardening while also teaching islanders about environmentally-sound practices and how to preserve native plants and wildlife.

And each year, at a gala awards dinner, the club recognizes notable, non-members’ private and commercial gardens for their outstanding horticulture practices.

The club’s 2022 winners were:

Erin Blaser and Doug McAllister

​Upon moving to the island in 2012, Erin and Andy Blaser found themselves surrounded by massive fir, alder, and cedar trees on their large south-end property.

Tackling sections of their developing garden, it became apparent that shade-tolerant and deer-resistant plantings were a necessity. Erin’s dad, Doug McAllister, visited monthly to assist, bringing with him an array of outdoor art treasures and various plants that he sourced from long hours spent at his favorite nurseries.

In 2020, the Blaser family and Erin’s folks decided an intergenerational compound was ideal for both families. As construction began on the new home for the McAllisters, father and daughter continued their partnership to beautify the surrounding grounds.

Distinct seating areas were established; grasses, ferns, and vibrant barberry were interspersed among salal and other native ground covers. Ten varieties of maple trees were added along with cherry, dogwood, and Cedrus deodara trees. Today, lush green lawns provide a space for children to play, while picnic tables and a decorative fire pit enhance outdoor family dining. These two households now coexist — their joint compound is a success, and their garden is a testament to the diligence of a father-and-daughter team.

Jerry Gehrke and Carol Schwennesen

Jerry thought gardening would be a great pastime in retirement. His wife, Carol, an artist, has a love for roses. Together they built a place of beauty that works seamlessly yet also serves as a bustling laboratory.

Their spacious backyard offers an array of linear raised beds, packed full of thriving vegetables in various stages of netting and drapes, providing safety from weather and pests. Dwarf and full-size nectarine trees framed by expertly designed structures shelter the fruits from fall rains and the dreaded leaf curl.

Perched in the midst of it all stands a mason bee condominium happily assisting in the pollination process of the fruits and vegetables of this highly productive garden. As a founding member of the Vashon Fruit Club, as well as the coordinator for the Mason Bee Pollinator Program, Jerry is a treasured asset and inspiration to gardeners.

Beth White

In 1982, Beth moved to her current home near Lisabuela and began her endeavor to turn the blackberry-laden grounds into an oasis for both sustenance and spirit.

Beth’s design evolved as she sought to understand how the garden should flow. Distinct garden rooms were created with pathways lined with rhododendrons, grasses, and pots of colorful tulips. Arbors laden with wisteria and climbing hydrangea, as well as an entry trellis draped with climbing roses and false kiwi, lead to a mixed perennial bed of dahlias, peonies, well-tended roses, and a flourishing vegetable patch.

Beth’s garden is a year-round experience of reverence for the graceful beauty that she has nurtured.

Austin Smith and Aren Der Hacopian

In only four short years, Austin and Aren have transformed their grounds into a mixture of a colorful cottage garden with a peaceful woodland forest.

Upon entering the front gate, a bright canvas of colors captures the senses, artfully arranged in overflowing pots of sunflowers, geraniums, and petunias.

Meandering pathways lead through beds of lilies, hydrangeas, varieties of ornamental grasses, and other carefully sourced perennials. Stone walkways sweep through raised beds of carnations, poppies, and alstroemeria, in companionship with productive vegetable gardens and recessed stone cylinders. A fruit tree orchard houses a well-tended rose garden; a stand of Thuja trees gracefully secures the property’s northern border, while a massive wooden fence holds the deer at bay to the west.

The lower paths weave through a sanctuary of ferns, giant gunnera, and hostas, all integrated with maples, dogwoods, Himalayan birch trees and an impressive array of evergreens.

Austin and Aren have crafted a garden that nurtures the eye and soothes the soul.

Annual plant sale is coming soon

Vashon-Maury Island Garden Club’s annual plant sale and fundraiser — always a special day for island gardeners — will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at Island Home Center & Lumber.

At the sale, gardeners will find greenhouse-grown vegetable starts, a colorful variety of annual flowers, and much more.

Proceeds from this sale go toward the Garden Club’s community outreach programs. The Vashon-Maury Garden Club strives to educate its members on plant culture and design, practice preservation of native plants and wildlife, and promote ecologically sound gardening principles within our community.

To learn more about the work of the Garden Club, and join or renew your membership, visit vmigc.org.