SEQUIM — As the plum trees begin to bloom and early bulbs emerge from the late-winter ground, the 16th annual Soroptimist Gala Garden Show is ready to help gardeners prepare for the coming spring and summer season.
The show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Sequim unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, 400 W. Fir St.
Entry to the show will be $5 per person, with children 12 and younger admitted free.
More than 60 vendors will have displays of nursery starts, gardening supplies, patio furniture, yard art and yard management for North Olympic Peninsula gardeners at the spring-opening show put on by the Soroptimists International of Sequim.
Presentations also are planned both days.
Saturday class
“We’re adding a new class: how to garden when you have [physical] limitations,” said Linda Klinefelter, co-chair of the garden show committee.
The class, which will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, will be taught by three Master Gardeners: Jeanette Stehr-Green, Judy English, Bill Wrobel and Barb Pachal.
They will discuss gardening methods and practices that make it easier for people in wheelchairs or who have arthritis or other physical difficulties to get back out to the garden, Klinefelter said.
Raised garden beds, container gardens and ergonomic tools are among methods that can make gardening more attractive to those with aches or disabilities.
The class also will go into how to stretch properly before gardening, she said.
14 new vendors
Fourteen vendors are new to the garden show and will offer wares that haven’t been seen at the show before, Klinefelter said.
Items at the show will include houseplants, birdhouses and feeders, decorative garden stones, fence supplies and greenhouses.
This year’s “Sweet 16” theme is accompanied by sweet pansies in the form of watercolor art by Iris Edey of Sequim.
Edey’s paintings of pansies — one of the easier flowers to grow on the Peninsula — adorn the garden show’s 2014 guide.
A cedar Adirondack chair and footrest will be offered as the top prize for a raffle that includes more than $500 in garden goodies donated by vendors.
Raffle tickets are $3 each and will be available at the garden show.
Both days will feature guest speakers from the Master Gardeners of Clallam County.
Here is the schedule:
Saturday
■ 10 a.m. — Stehr-Green, English, Wrobel and Pachal will present a two-hour discussion of accessible gardening.
■ 1 p.m. — Gordon Clark, Wrobel and Dawna Emerson-Hinton will discuss planning landscapes.
■ 2 p.m. — Laurel Moulton, will discuss pest management.
■ 3 p.m. — Tanya Unruh will discuss “Five Senses Gardening.”
Sunday
■ 12:30 p.m. — Selinda Barkhuis will discuss “Growing Spaghetti Sauce.”
■ 1:30 p.m. — Sally Shunn will discuss miniature gardens.
The Garden Cafe will be open for breakfast and lunch.
Run by Dr. Monica Dixon, a dietitian, the cafe offers only healthy options, Klinefelter said.
Funds raised at the show will go to support such projects as scholarships, the Women’s Opportunity Award, the Medical Loan Closet, the Women in Networks Program, Sequim Community Aid and the Rose House Shelter.
Most of funds earned by the Soroptimists — 99 percent — are passed back into the community through scholarships and other donations, the group said.
For more information, visit www.sequimgardenshow.com.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
