Header image courtesy of Downtown Everett.

Spring was on the way. Thousands and thousands of plants were sitting in the big greenhouse by Evergreen Arboretum, lovingly grown from seed. Geraniums, marigolds and petunias. Then BAM, a pandemic hits. The flowers keep growing as they do, but their release into the wild, err, the winding border of Mukilteo Boulevard and the stunning planters that make downtown so magical during the warm months, was canceled. City funding was slowing because people stopped buying as we tend to during times of uncertainty and staff was let go.   

The city put the plants on the auction block or rather, a cool website where you can snag deals on things like laptops, tables and plants as it turns out. I read about the auction deep down in an email from the city. I logged on and put in some bids, thinking no one else was going to know about the auction, because who reads all the emails from the city? 

Then wait, is that my neighbor bidding on the same item as me? Um, that is my good friend bidding too. Then, I received an email from Patrick Hall, President of the Downtown Everett Association (DEA), he saw me bidding and was just reaching out to let me know that DEA was working to acquire plants to fill the downtown planters. So much more honorable than attempting to hoard plants for your own yard. 

The website ended up crashing, but somehow I ended up getting one lot of flowers that I split with my good friend. My neighbor got her own lot. DEA got 2,900 flowers. Everyone was happy.

Patrick cared for the flowers at his home while DEA came up with a plan to get the flowers in the planters. No, they did not have a plan when they bid on the flowers. I didn’t either but managed to fill every space in my garden with a few extra to give to neighbors. 

Two weekends ago, over 100 volunteers converged in downtown, at staggered times to be socially distanced, and planted 200 flower planters. I spoke with Liz Stenning, Executive Director of DEA and she said she was impressed and blown away by all of the volunteer support. Hundreds of hours in a short period of time were spent strategizing and planning the day. Planting day volunteers adjusted their schedules due to the severe weather in the morning and they took social distancing practices seriously. Support even came from passersby with friendly car honks.  

DEA has hired a contractor to water the planters and have a bunch of volunteers who will maintain them by weeding and deadheading.  

I’m looking forward to heading downtown to enjoy the flowers. It may be a pandemic, but it’s still good to stop and smell the flowers.  

Linda War Bonnet represents south Everett on the Live in Everett Team. When she isn’t working, she is running the Westmont-Holly Neighborhood Association. You might spot her walking her dog in the Holly neighborhood.