Visiting Puget Island Garden Center is an adventure. Take a full day if you want to fully appreciate the Center and overall locale. The vision owners Gene and Dawn O'Neil have for Puget Island Garden Center is brilliant, something I haven't seen before: They have benches, little round wrought iron table-and-chair sets, single and double sets of chairs for resting/sitting/reflecting and communing, even a hammock between two trees set off from the Puget Island Garden Center itself. What used to be a llama barn, Gene remodeled into a store where they sell all kinds of garden supplies and more. It's an eclectic of their (Gene and Dawn) idiosyncratic creative interests, lovingly displayed. But there are actually 4 buildings, more like a garden complex. Each building has a purpose: in here are the veggie starts, this building has annuals for pots on the porch or deck, etc. The lovely part was how, since unlike urban garden centers with limited space, they have plenty of room, each structure spaced apart with rows of plants, set on table-like settings and, interspersed, are all those lovely little spots to sit and visit and reflect. Dawn said their vision is to have the Puget Island Garden Center be a destination and indeed that is what it is!
They had healthy plants and trees of every type. So hard to limit what to buy! I bought a beautiful black lace elderberry I'm excited about. Natalie, the plant expert, is so knowledgeable. When my friend or I had questions, we went to Natalie, a brilliant plant goddess who looks herself as if she grew right out of a columbine, a very knowledgeable young horticulturist. They have plans to use the rest of the 5 acres to actually grow what they sell, but for now, they have to buy the plants.
Dawn and Gene, so friendly and generous with their stories, suggested we stop at "Little Island Creamery" where we needed to purchase the brie cheese because it had just won #1 'best brie cheese' at the national cheese organization.
After we left, we went to The Spar (does every town and city have a restaurant named the Spar?) where we met the most delightful server, Wren, who served us one of the best sandwiches. What a memorable day. read more
