- June 25 – Softening Trauma with Rose & making rose beads with Erin Vanhee
- July 9 & 10 – Indigo Gathering Weekend with Elin Noble – FULL
- July 16 – Inspired Gardeners class – Garden Tour! Sandy, Sarah & Mary
- July 23 – Whidbey Island Music Festival – Garden concert -3 pm – 5 pm Heroines – Women of Power & Influence – Tales of courage, love & loss by Monteverdi, Pallavicini, Haydn, Merula & more!
- Saturday – July 30 – 10 am – 5 pm- Summer Arts & Crafts Market – lots of art, crafts, food and fun in a gorgeous garden setting.
- Sunday – July 31 – 10 am – 2 pm – Summer Arts & Crafts Market – note shorter hours on Sunday
- August 6 – Whidbey Island Music Festival – Garden Concert – 3pm – 5 pm Bohemian Rhapsody – Oboe quartet – Krommer to Mozart
Itoh Peony Julia Rose
The peonies and most all our plants are late to bloom due to this cold and wet spring – amazing to think July 21 is the official start of summer and I’m still using a wool blanket on the couch!
It’s been great for planting and weeding, which I’ve been doing alot of – getting ready for our Summer Arts & Crafts Market at the end of July. There is a page on the website with some of the artists photos and wares, as I receive them. Stay tuned on that link for more artists work.
The market is set within the gardens, with vendors using garden umbrellas, so you can wander to your hearts delight among the flowers, trees and shrubs will you explore all there is to offer. I’ve really been having a good time working on the gardens this spring to make it more enchanting for all. Delicious salads will be available as well as beverages so you can really take your time to enjoy all the fine peoples work.
Stephan Stubbs and Tekla Cunningham at last years garden concert
We are excited to be hosting two garden concerts this summer, performed by the wide and varied talents of Whidbey Island Music Festival with Tekla Cunningham (violin & director). It’s very special to sit in the lawn, with the sun shining, and have the glorious sounds of all the musicians and vocalists bath over you from the raised porch.
The musicians were thrilled with the acoustics, so you’ll have no problem hearing.
Check out the listings – there are more, of course, at other locations if you want to catch the whole summer series, in addition to our garden concerts. It’s totally enchanting if you like classical music and I always learn so much.
Tickets are purchased through the Festivals website – links above in the header.
Rose class instructor – Erin Vanhee of Trillium Medicine
We have room for a few more folks in the Softening Trauma with Rose class. The weather is looking so positive for this weekends class too. My roses are blooming nicely for us to harvest petals, towards the end of the class, for making beads with rose petals!
Physocarpus ‘Little Devil’
Cotinus ‘Dusky Maiden’
I’m really looking forward to the Garden Tour class Inspired Gardeners with the mother / daughter team Sandy and Sarah. It’s always fun to see an old established garden with gorgeous specimen plants and get ideas and inspiration for your own garden. In contrast, Sarah’s ambitious garden with many fabulous plants already installed, was only started 3 years ago. My early visit to her garden made me want to add some of the treasures she’s installed into my own garden. It’s wonderful how much we can learn from each other.
Sarah is also an artist ( embroidery, painting, ceramics ), so her gardens inspire her work as well. We’ll enjoy our tea & coffee using some of her ceramic mugs. And of course there will be pie – a must for all our classes.
Sandy Olson & Sarah Slovensky
Summer Market Teaser
So many artists – a small selection of things to come!
Laura Knaub – returning again with a wide selection of ceramics, Laura was at last summer and winters markets and her work was so well received.
Kimber Elements will join us, Saturday only, with the work she does in collaboration with Kenyan women to benefit both them and the wildlife of their region. She was at our Summer Market last year and is a delight to talk to about her work and vision, and the beadwork is fabulous.
Steph Terao – Ceramics
Happy to have Steph join us for the first time – she’s multi talented and to this market is bringing ceramics. She also painted the lovely window signage on the new Greenbank bakery Dolce. (If you’ve not tried their food you should.)
Sarah Slovensky ( on the right ) will have ceramics, paintings, prints, cards & embroidery – where does she find the time to do all that and her large garden?
Sam & Caitlin Stanton of Whidbey Herbal
Delighted to have Caitlin join us for the Summer Market as her products are so wonderful. Essential oils of lavender, cedar, rosemary, cottonwood, and more as well as room sprays, hydrosol and candles….
Jennifer and Matt of The Blue Peony will be offering Matt’s totally incredible body products. I use a number of them daily and swear by them! Matt is a chemist who realized he could make great products for much less than Jennifer generally spent on facial care products – hence the birth of Whidbey Wild. Jennifer sews and has lots of colorful fun things in her Langley store. Hoping some of those will make an appearance…. yet to be determined
Leah Nguyễn of @planetpaintpeole will return with tee shirts, block printed napkins, flower essences and more – such a talent!
Elsa Laymen will join us for her first summer market with her beaded jewelry – she sold that and honey at the winter market!
Renee Boyce @freelandartshack will be both demoing her very intricate painted mandala rocks and jewelry as well as selling it. Her partner, Michael, will share her space with wood signs he’s started making.
I’m going to mix it up a bit at this market – invited Jumanji of Rainy Day Flora native plant nursery to bring plants for sale. I just want to support this wonderful plantswoman and designer who has created a really sweet spot on Langley Rd. She’ll have great photos ( thank-you dad Bill Ruth photographer ) so you can see what your special little plant will become!
Mary Fisher @maemaesew will have useful and beautiful fabric lunch bags, clothing and who knows what else, maybe some jams and salves – depends on how much time I have!
Least Flycatcher nest in a bracken fern
One egg laid June 19th in Least flycatcher nest
What would a newsletter from me be without ending on some wonderful bird news? Sievert was clearing trails to his trees he planted, when he came across this flycatcher nest. Said they always nest in bracken ferns. Boy what a treat to see. A very hidden bird since it doesn’t come to my feeders! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.
Hope to see lots of you fine folks out supporting the many wonderful artists and craftspeople at the end of July.
Keep dreaming of warm summer days,
Mary Fisher
7568 Cultus Bay Rd
Whidbey Island
Clinton WA
www.cultusbaygardens.com
@cultusbaygardens
@maemaesew