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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

It Was a Dark and Stormy Day: A Tale of Two Urban Gardeners

Recently, I visited Bark and Garden Nursery in Olympia, was chatting with a delightful lady named Linda who told me about The Urban Gardener in Tacoma owned by her friend Sue and said I should check it out.  Armed with my smart phone's GPS, I allowed the lady inside to guide me back to my hometown and to this place.   Turns out there are two Urban Gardeners in Tacoma, both wonderful and both home to garden designers and cool shops.  For those of you wondering if that is snow falling, no, it's not, just big raindrops.



Black sign with chartreuse printing - I'm in love already. 

This Urban Gardener, located on A street across from the post office is also home to a blogger whose posts I've read.  Her blog is here.

This is not a place to find plants but there are fabulous pieces for the garden and home all around.  Love the caged garden gnomes!


 Interesting collectibles like these antique flower frogs and sprinklers. 

I fell for these vintage (1940's) hand hammered Moroccan incense burners and thought  they would look great in my greenhouse but then remembered all that Spanish moss.  I need to decide if I want to go for exotic or moss-draped swamp in there.  Maybe an eclectic mix would work.  

Haitian metal work.

 All kinds of fun stuff!
 
This Urban Gardener will be at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show Vintage Marketplace (Jan 22 - 25) so if you see anything you can't live without, make sure you attend the show.  Better yet, if you're in Tacoma, check out her delightful shop!

The Urban Garden Company, the one about which Linda from Bark and Garden was speaking isn't far from the other other one and the smart phone said that it was open.  

Looks great from the outside! (More raindrops)


Unfortunately, the outside is all we'll get to see on this visit.  Turns out the smart phone wasn't so smart after all.
A little window shopping...
  And a promise to myself to go back and check it out!  In the meantime, there's their website.

P.S. there also used to be an Urban (was it spelled herban?) gardens in yet another location in town.

I would love to see even more garden businesses in Tacoma!  Our town is famous for the "Tacoma Aroma," the smell of pulp mills which used to nearly burn our eyes on still mornings. Although this has been nearly eliminated for many years now, the moniker lingers.  I dream of a day when Tacoma becomes better known as a garden city.   Come and smell our OTHER aroma! Or maybe - Not everything in Tacoma Stinks!  How about;  Tacoma, it's best to visit at high tide - don't ask.



28 comments:

  1. Your last paragraph made me laugh Peter! Some of their pieces are great additions to any garden. A mix of those Moroccan incense burners and Spanish moss would look great in your greenhouse :)

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    1. Glad you got a chuckle from the last paragraph! I may just have to get a couple of those. I have similar hanging lanterns that would look great with them.

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  2. I'm with Mark & Gaz, I like the idea of a mix of moss & Morocco!

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  3. Hey--moss and exotic are not mutually exclusive! :-)

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    1. You are, of course, correct. I've got to get the plants more vertically organized so that there's more space and then look at where to put everything.

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  4. In Panama City, FL, locals laugh and say the sulphurous fumes from the paper mills "smell like money."

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    1. Love it! The timber industry has been very good for Tacoma!

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  5. I've been to Sue Goetz's Urban Garden Company shop, and it's a really great little place! Thanks for showing us the other other one too, I've been really curious about that shop. I didn't realize she has a blog, but I do follow her on Facebook. I like the combo of moss and Morocco too, but you will have to be careful not to light all that hanging moss on fire. I've never noticed a Tacoma aroma.

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    1. Tacoma's famous aroma has been gone for some years now but a besmirched reputation is difficult to change.

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  6. Oh they both look like fun places! I'll have to put them on my list of places to visit. Don't you just hate that word "closed"...?

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    1. I do hate the word closed; it's so um...un open.

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  7. The incense burners and the moss will look fine together. Your green house is very eclectic already and can easily embrace both. I remember similar style of bluish lanterns you discovered at Sky nursery. I say the more the merrier. I fancy the antique green wheelbarrow in the first picture.

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    1. You should come down and get that green wheelbarrow! You're right the bluish lanterns at sky are very similar. Alison and I are going to the Tacoma Home and Garden Show at the Tacoma Dome this Saturday and there'll be a fun vintage market. Would you like to come down and join us?

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    2. I don't often venture out of Seattle, to be honest, although I'm thankful for your offer. Frankly, I feel I've met you already! I'll be getting my tickets to the Seattle garden show today, and probably attend on Wednesday morning, before I go to work. Maybe we'll run into each other then.

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  8. I grew up downwind from paper mills. We could always tell when rain was coming.

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    1. We're lucky that they've gotten rid of that lovely fragrance in Tacoma. Nostalgia makes me miss it a bit. You could always tell when you approached Tacoma on the freeway.

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  9. Aren't there garden shops and nurseries every half-mile in the PNW? Seems like!

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    1. Well, of course there are! I just want more that I can walk to from my house in ten minutes or less. See how spoiled we are!

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  10. I'd like to make an appointment to classes 'creative gardener', Peter!

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    1. They would be thrilled to have you. You're so creative that you could teach the class yourself, Nadezda!

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  11. Love the incense burners. I would have snapped them up. Rain envy, sigh.

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    1. WWHB What Would Hoover Boo? Some of them may have to come home with me! I would be happy to give you some of our rain!

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  12. It's good to see the Urban Gardener keeps their gnomes carefully sequestered: they are squirrely little guys with an eye for mischief. As for the incense burners and Spanish moss - sure, as long as everything doesn't go up in smoke ;-)

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    1. It is the civic duty of gnome owners to carefully monitor them! In a shop like that, they would have knocked things all over the place and dismantled furniture to make homes. Safety first!

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  13. I saw some pottery that I own in that first shop! It looks like a fun place.

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    1. You might enjoy coming to the Tacoma Home and Garden Show at the Tacoma Domn on the 22 - 24th. It's tiny compared to the Seattle show and there are a lot more "Home" things but the vintage market is usually pretty fun. Alison and I are planning on going on Saturday.

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  14. I could live there! I love vintage in the garden (along with rust) Would love to be able to visit. Question-- What is a pulp mill?

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.