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| Inspecting the new rootstock are (from left) garden manager Bob Seely, Yiqiao (George) Jiang of Luoyang and Seattle, Scott Heinlein, Andrew Colvin of Washington State University’s King County Extension program, and Garden board members Sandy Marvinney and Phil Wood. Heinlein and Jiang, along with Kirk Chia are founders and leaders of the American Peony Art and Cultural Association. APACA is partnering with SCG in creating our Luoyang Peony Garden and sponsoring the annual May Peony Festival. |
Story by Sandy Marvinney
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| Volunteers covering the north end of the garden with topsoil. |
Week by week, like unfurling a scroll painting, volunteers planted more than 400 peony rootstock in a sweeping arc to the east of Knowing the Spring Courtyard. More than two dozen varieties of tree peonies and several varieties of herbaceous peonies donated from Luoyang, China, will bloom in May at the Garden. The Seattle Chinese Garden will soon have the largest public peony garden on the West Coast.
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| Kirk Chia, president of APACA, shows off an impressive clump of rootstock, called Luoyang Hon. All the rootstock are five to six years old and will have at least six blossoms. |
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| Riz Reyes places an ID tag on a rootstock. Garden manager Bob Seely organized the December 7 tagging work party in the Chan Center. Also helping were Phil Wood, Kirk Chia, George Jiang, Scott Heinlein, and Sandy Marvinney. Reyes, a longtime member of the Garden’s Horticulture Committee, owns RHR Horticulture and Landwave Gardens. |
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| Jon Geiger (left, SCG president) and volunteer Bill Beineke, move a stone into position at the garden’s edge. During the first two weeks of January, many volunteers helped Bob Seely move tons of stone to create an attractive border for the peony garden. The stones came from a tributary of the Yangtze River and are leftovers from construction of Knowing the Spring Courtyard. |
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| Long-time Garden member and supporter Stella Chien dropped by the Garden on Saturday afternoon to get a look at the action and cheer on volunteers. Stella inspires everyone with her unflagging dedication to the Garden and generous contributions to horticultural projects. And she rolls up her sleeves too, even helping push around a wheelbarrow or two of topsoil. After a hard day’s work and great progress, Jon, Stella, and Bob are all smiles. |
Big thanks go to Gary Gaston of Gaston Brothers Excavating for the 400 cubic yards of topsoil and for the Sawdust Supply Company which donated another 10 cubic yards of compost for the project.
Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped Bob Seely this winter with a variety of projects ranging from work on the peony garden to pruning and weeding: Jon Geiger, Michael Brokaw, Phil Wood, Doug Rice, Angelo Brown, Dewey Webster, Jun Ren, Leona Chiu, Kirk Chia, Scott Heinlein, Sandy Marvinney, Wayne Prochaska, Bill Beineke, Tim Whittome, George Jiang, Stella Chien, Shamus Johnson, Margaret Pageler, and Liz Hattemer.
If you would like to join the crew at a future garden work party or assist Bob Seely for any amount of time that fits your schedule on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday, please contact him at gardenmanager@seattlechinesegarden.org or 206-849-4055. Come visit soon to see the recent enhancements to the garden, and mark your calendar for the second annual Seattle-Luoyang Peony Festival on May 3!
(Photos by Sandy Marvinney and Kirk Chia)
(Photos by Sandy Marvinney and Kirk Chia)