Sharing Success and Educating Each Other
Seeds for Thought is the quarterly newsletter of the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State.
Issues are published on February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1. All content is submitted by WSU Extension Master Gardeners.
Submission Guidelines
Articles should be in a Word or Google document with JPG photos attached separately. Photo credits must be provided and the identity of MGs in the photos is appreciated. Fliers or announcements of upcoming events are also welcome in JPG format. Please email submissions to newsletter@mastergardenerfoundation.org
| Publication Date | Submissions Due |
| February 1 | January 1 |
| May 1 | April 1 |
| August 1 | July 1 |
| November 1 | October 1 |
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Seeds For Thought
August 2025 – Volume 25, Issue 3
A newsletter of the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State
From the President
~~ Tana Hasart, MGFWS President
Creativity and “Boundaries for Good”
A recent New York Times series explored the concept of creativity. One takeaway continues to intrigue me: boundaries can improve creativity. After spending time as a member of the team updating the WSU Extension/County Chapter Memorandum of Agreement, the idea of “boundaries for good” certainly resonates.
Boundaries provide the ability to focus on what can be produced, changed, or amended. They keep our thoughts from being scattered or diverted, while making it easier to see solutions. Boundaries clearly define the space within which we learn, work, and contribute. Once the rules are clear, energy and effort are more readily directed toward positive change. Boundaries keep us from being overwhelmed by whittling down the scope of what needs to be accomplished. They also help individuals and teams be more efficient and protect our limited amount of creative energy.
Boundaries are essential because they protect our time, energy, and well-being, allowing us to focus on what truly matters. They create space for healthy relationships, clear expectations, and personal growth—without guilt or burnout.
As the MOA template is introduced, I encourage each of you to think about how the guidelines strengthen our dedication to the WSU EMG Mission to empower diverse communities with research-based horticulture and environmental stewardship education. That mission provides the creative space within which we do our work. It helps us direct resources, both human and financial, toward goals that are even more important than in the past. It joins us together as a community, committed to making a difference in the nine priority areas that serve as the basis for our efforts.
By examining the new MOA template as a basis for renewed understanding and creativity, our organizations can move forward with even more assurance that we make a difference for those who need us most. I encourage each of you to use every millimeter of space between these established boundaries to be your best creative self!
– Tana
From the Statewide Program Leader
~~ Jennifer Marquis, WSU Extension Master Gardener Program Statewide Leader
Grow With Us: Register for Green School and the 2025 Advanced Education Conference
As gardeners, we know that growth takes time, intention, and the right conditions. The same is true for cultivating resilience—in our landscapes, our communities, and ourselves. This fall, WSU Extension invites you to deepen your knowledge, expand your impact, and grow with us through two powerful learning opportunities: Green School and the 2025 Master Gardener Advanced Education Conference.
Green School: Where Gardeners Become Stewards
Registration opens August 15 for WSU Extension’s Green School, a flexible and fully online course designed for anyone who wants to garden more sustainably in Washington’s diverse and changing climate. Whether you’re a home gardener, a landscape professional, or someone considering becoming a WSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer, Green School offers two tracks:
Washington Gardener Certificate Track: Learn research-based horticulture and environmental stewardship practices to enhance your gardening skills and promote sustainable landscapes.
Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Track: Take your learning further by joining a statewide network of volunteers who educate and inspire their communities.
Green School empowers you to make informed choices that benefit your garden, your neighborhood, and the planet. Classes begin October 5, and registration remains open through September 30.
Cultivating Resilience: 2025 Advanced Education Conference
Join us September 26–27, 2025, for the WSU Extension Master Gardener Advanced Education Conference, themed Cultivating Resilience. This year’s conference is virtual, with live and recorded sessions available to all registrants through February 28, 2026. Whether you’re a seasoned Master Gardener or just beginning your journey, this conference offers inspiration, practical tools, and a sense of community. Master Gardener and MGFWS Social Media Chair Joyce Fraizer shares more AEC details below.
Ready to Grow?
Both Green School and the Advanced Education Conference are rooted in the belief that education is the key to resilience. When we learn together, we grow stronger—individually and collectively. Visit Green School to register for Green School, and Advanced Education Conference to register for the conference. Let’s cultivate resilience—one garden, one learner, one community at a time.
– Jennifer
AEC 2025: Cultivating Resilience, September 26-27
~~ Joyce Fraizer, MGFWS Social Media Chair and Pierce County Master Gardener
The Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State, in partnership with the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program, hosts the virtual 2025 WSU Extension Master Gardener Advanced Education Conference (AEC), Cultivating Resilience, on September 26 – 27. As Jennifer mentioned, those who register will have access to all recordings through February 28, 2026. That’s five full months of on-demand learning.
The conference provides exceptional educational opportunities with high-quality classes and instructors. The AEC is one way we strive to ensure Extension Master Gardeners are receiving innovative, unbiased, and scientifically supported education. The conference focuses on research-based gardening and environmental stewardship practices. Join us as we enjoy presentations on all nine WSU Extension Master Gardener Program Priorities.
Something new this year! Shared Learning Experience (SLE), regionally-based, in-person gatherings around Washington state. There are six offerings of Shared Learning Experience gatherings that will allow attendees to view the Friday program together. SLEs allow the participants to build community while learning.
Shared Learning Experience host counties are Clark, Kittitas, Snohomish, Spokane, Whitman and Yakima. Everyone will have the opportunity to enroll in a SLE when completing AEC registration.
Learn more about SLE at : mglearns.mastergardenerfoundation.org/
Our 2025 Keynote speaker, Larry Weaner (Larry Weaner Landscape Associates) presents Living in the Liberated Landscape. Larry founded LWLA in 1982 after receiving his associate’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture from the Pennsylvania College of Technology and has gone on to design prestigious public and private landscapes. He served on the Board of Directors and as the Environmental Committee Chair for the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. Watch this excellent 20 minute YouTube video of Larry presenting on beginning a partnership with nature by planting ‘Native Landscapes’ at Native Landscaping 101 with Larry Weaner.
To access the Conference schedule and learn about all of our amazing presenters, visit AEC 2025 Schedule.
The Advanced Education Conference is virtual and open to everyone passionate about gardening and the environment. We aim to empower garden enthusiasts with knowledge, inspiration, and sustainable practices. Hosting this conference on a virtual platform allows us to provide a harmonious blend of affordability and accessibility while minimizing our environmental footprint. It enables us to have leading instructors and researchers from across the United States with nationwide open registration. Spread the word and tell your family and friends they can join us for this incredible learning opportunity.
The low cost for the AEC is only $129 for Master Gardeners, WSU staff, and Conference instructors/speakers. The low cost for the General Public is $139. Register at: mglearns.mastergardenerfoundation.org/registration/ .
Double Your Impact—The Washington Green School builds your knowledge and the AEC shows you how to bring it to life. Pairing these two powerhouse programs gives you both the science and the skills to create change—whether you’re leading a classroom, a garden, or a community.
Building a Garden from Scratch
~~ Karen Larsen, Pierce County Master Gardener
Born in Germany, Henry Sehmel was granted a homestead in the Rosedale area of Gig Harbor, located in western Pierce County, in 1891. He and his family maintained an orchard of apple, pear, and plum trees, and grew wine grapes and loganberries. They had a large egg operation, raised cattle, and grew Christmas trees that they drove to California to sell. Together with his brothers, Henry’s family controlled over 500 local acres. In the 1990’s, a grass roots community group banded together to preserve the land for future generations. The Peninsula Metropolitan Park District, or PenMet Parks was created in 2004. Sehmel Homestead Park was to be a multi-use area, with ball fields, a playground, and nature trails. Master Gardener work parties commenced at the old Sehmel farm in 2007, only my second year as a certified Master Gardener.
Photo 1 
Photo 2 In the years prior to construction, the Master Gardeners were mainly concerned with the preservation of plants on the farm. We transplanted hundreds of bulbs, removed invasive species and held hands-on pruning workshops. While the heavy earthmoving was happening during park construction, we toured Master Gardener demonstration gardens in surrounding counties for ideas to incorporate into our new garden. Some basic decisions needed to be made, such as the general layout of the garden, garden themes, and whether the garden is open or fenced. In the end, we chose to fence the garden for security and protection from the local deer population.
Don and Mary Ellen Sehmel were the last descendants to own the property. The park district had promised their personal vegetable garden as our Demonstration Garden site. It was a large, beautiful space with rich soil that had been amended for generations. What we ended up with was a small, oddly shaped piece of land where the contractor had stored his heavy equipment during construction and was compacted and stripped of all topsoil. (Photos 1 and 2)
I’m sure you have all heard the saying “When Life Gives you Lemons. . .” A new mission statement was our way of making lemonade when our lovely garden site vanished. We installed a wood plaque above the door of the main garden shed. It reads: Welcome to our Garden! Here you will find ways to garden in Small Spaces, Raised Beds, and Containers. We demonstrate varied ways to use/make containers out of different materials and look for vegetable and fruit varieties well suited for growing in containers. (Photo 3)
Photo 3 
Photo 4 In addition to the demonstration garden, our second area of responsibility we call the Heritage Garden. It houses a shady native plant garden, highlighted by over 50 rhododendrons transplanted from the Sehmel home site. What started as a temporary safe zone during park construction became the rhododendrons’ permanent home. We use the term Heritage, as many of the rhododendrons are older varieties which are no longer commercially available. We have added many native plants to the garden over the years and have installed QR code signage. (Photo 4)
The Sehmel apple orchard was lovely, comprised of approximately two dozen different trees. Working there in the springtime, we were overwhelmed with the intoxicating scent of apple blossoms. The family grew Island Belle grapes, created by Adam Eckert, who lived on Stretch Island. Stretch Island is located in the South Puget Sound, in Mason County. Adam named the red wine grape after his daughter, who was declared the “belle of the ball” when she returned home from her first barn dance. The Sehmel family sold those grapes to the Hoodsport Winery by the ton annually. The wine was known locally as Rosedale Red. The orchard and arbor made way for baseball fields.
At the back end of the Sehmel farm was a Bigleaf maple tree (Acer macrophyllum). Reaching over 100 feet fall, Don Sehmel used to nail 2 by 4’s on the trunk so his children and their friends could climb the tree and appreciate the view. An arborist once declared it one of the finest two or three finest examples of Bigleaf maples in the state of Washington. It also fell victim to construction, despite our efforts, and it was very difficult for us to watch it slowly die.
We couldn’t save the apples, grapes, or the maple tree, but we could save the Sweet Alice apple tree. Created by Seth Lewelling, he and his brother Henderson traveled by wagon from Iowa to Oregon, founding that state’s fruit industry in Milwaukee. Seth is best known as the hybridizer of the Bing cherry, which was named after his Japanese foreman, Ah Bing. I can just imagine the Lewelling brothers, stopping at the Sehmel farm, in the late 19th century, on their way to Oregon, selling their wares along the way. Sweet Alice was named for Seth’s young daughter, who died while they lived in Iowa. The tree is over 100 years old and still bears sweet fruit. The Cascade Fruit Society verified the identity of the tree back in the 1970’s. In the photo you can see the tree in early spring, underplanted with bulbs from the Sehmel family homesite. (Photo 5)
Photo 5 Major funding for garden construction was provided by the Master Gardener Foundation of Pierce County. PenMet Parks’ Park Enhancement Grant matched our foundation’s contribution. This enabled us to build a garden shed with a covered patio and custom shelving for potting, perimeter fencing, a three bin compost system, supplies for eight cedar garden boxes with irrigation, soil and plants in the initial construction phase.
Photo 6 The garden was dedicated in June of 2011. In the years following, we built a greenhouse, added an English knot garden, planted three trees in cottage stone “planters”, created a Hügelkultur display, added Mason bees, and a berry bed. Everyone knows that a garden is not a static thing. Recently, the knot garden transitioned into a children’s garden and the berry bed became a native pollinator bed. Our hügelkultur is reaching the end of its life and will likely be replaced with another display next season, possibly a straw bale garden. (Photo 6)
The garden was built by seven dedicated volunteers. That number has grown to over 75 on our weekly email list. We are proud caretakers of the Sehmel family homestead and enjoy operating one of the two Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens in Pierce County. Our plans for a tenth birthday celebration were curtailed by Covid, but we’re gearing up for a festive fifteenth next year! (Photo 7)
Photo 7 (All photos courtesy of Karen Larsen) Building a Children’s Garden
~~ Diane Frey, Pierce County Master Gardener
Marcia Dombrowsky, One of the visionaries of the garden and program We are celebrating in Pierce County — 25 years of Children’s Gardening! Our Children’s Garden program began in the year 2000 with a vision to invent a children’s garden where kids could have a hands on experience working in the soil and planting and growing things. It took 2 years to develop the basic Children’s Garden in the WSU Puyallup Demonstration Garden from the jungle of items including the thorny wild blackberry.
The physical garden began with a Jack and the Beanstalk theme – complete with giant footprints, a Giant’s house and a giant chair. These remain in today’s garden and have been joined by a topiary bear and a topiary bunny, a secret garden with a fish pond, a whimsical garden, a dinosaur area, a pirate area complete with a ship, a kid’s farm area, and a magical forest.
Today’s Children’s Garden Team continues to instill the joys of nature in the children and their families by combining our love of gardening and our love of children and using this garden for family events, tours and other adventures. We celebrated Summer and our milestone 25th birthday with a family event on July 26th. We had a scavenger hunt to find objects related to our 25 years, explored pollinators and made antennae to crawl in our bug tunnel, made Earth Dumplings and of course, had birthday cake!
The Whimsical Garden with its ladybug crossing 
Our first Giant’s chair (All photos courtesy of Diane Frey) Growing a Community Mason Bee Fostering Program
~~ Mary Dessel, Mason County Master Gardener
The buzz is growing! Across Mason and Thurston County communities, people are coming together to protect mason bees—vital native pollinators active in early spring. From April to June, homeowners, businesses, and community gardens are fostering bee houses and helping reverse their decline.
Why Mason Bees? Mason bees are native super-pollinators, known for their incredible efficiency. Active in cool spring weather when other bees are dormant, a single female mason bee can visit up to 1,800 flowers a day—making her a powerhouse for pollinating fruit trees and other early bloomers. In fact, it takes more than 100 honeybees to match the work of just one mason bee.
A Bee Crisis and a Local Solution Bees are facing global decline due to habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, disease, and invasive species. This collapse is already impacting food systems and ecosystems around the world. In response, the Mason County Master Gardeners launched the Mason Bee Fostering Program and welcomed community Bee Fostering Friends (BFFs).
BFF Arlen Morris and BFF Program Coordinator Laurie Williams (Photo courtesy of Mary Dessel) 
BFF Amy Wisch (Photo courtesy of Laurie Williams) What Is a Bee Fostering Friend (BFF)? It’s simple and rewarding. From April to June, participants foster a mason bee nesting house on their insecticide-free property with plenty of flowering plants for the bees to forage.
Here’s how it works: In April, Master Gardeners deliver and set up a bee house with 100 cocoons to each participant. The bees emerge, pollinate flowers, and lay eggs in the provided nesting tubes. In June, the houses are collected to protect the developing larvae from predators like the parasitic wasp. In October, BFFs are invited to help clean the nesting tubes—a key step in healthy bee development. The cocoons are then safely stored until the next spring.
Panorama Community Garden Coordinator Robert Findlay and BFF Coordinator Mary Dessel (Photo courtesy of Laurie Williams) 
Karla Lots, Heaths and Heathers Nursery and Mary Dessel (Photo courtesy of Laurie Williams) 
Mason bee nesting tubes (Photo courtesy of Laurie Williams) Want to join the buzz? To become a BFF or learn more about the Mason Bee Fostering Program, please contact Mason County Master Gardener program coordinator, Tessa Halloran at tessa.halloran@wsu.edu .
In The Garden, a New Radio Show and Podcast
~~ Barbara Faurot, Jefferson County Master Gardener
L to R: Volunteers Julia, Barbara, Dianna, Mary Beth (Photo courtesy of Nels Peterson)
IN THE GARDEN, a new monthly radio show on nonprofit KPTZ 91.9 FM in Port Townsend, shares practical wisdom and science-based research on all things gardening in the maritime Pacific Northwest. Episodes air Thursdays from 6:00-6:30 PM, and are available as podcasts for on-demand listening: IN THE GARDEN Podcasts on KPTZ.org.
Jefferson County Master Gardeners Julia Cordz, Barbara Faurot, and Dianna Wiklund, along with Food Bank grower Mary Beth Haralovich, time each episode to what’s happening in the garden this month.
According to Producer Mary Beth, “the team aims to share conversations in the garden that might happen with your neighbor – what to expect from the weather, what garden tasks are calling, what to plant now, what’s ready to harvest, what to do, and not to do. The show covers a lot of ground – the how, the why and the when – the mistakes and the fun of gardening.”
June and July episodes are available now. The August episode airs August 7, and covers covers strawberry care, saving seeds, tomato tips, creating a moon garden, summer watering, summer pruning, and more. KPTZ is an independent local station featuring educational, entertaining, and service-oriented programming. Julia, Barbara, Dianna, and Mary Beth welcome comments and questions from listeners at inthegarden@kptz.org.
Seeds for Thought is a quarterly publication of the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State. To subscribe or update your subscription, please visit Seeds for Thought Subscription. Submissions, corrections, and comments can be emailed to the Editor, Barbara Faurot.
Seeds for Thought Copyright 2016-2025 Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State
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