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9415 Miller Rd NE
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

206-842-5888
 
Plants

We will be closed on Easter Sunday (3/31).

Spring hours: Mon-Sat 9:00am-5:30pm, Sun 10:00am-4:00pm

Stock up Sale: Buy two bags of soil or soil amendments, one bag will be half off! Limited to stock on hand. Expires 3/30.

 

Free Class - Pretty Pots for Pollinators - Wed, March 27th

Check out the details, and see what's coming up on the Classes link above.

Want to see what came in this week? Click here: What's New This Week

This week's in-store sales: Easter decor now 30% off. Camellias 30% off. Bulbs 30% off.

 

CLASSES IN MARCH --
CLASSICS AND NEW

March is our Spring month of classes at Bainbridge Gardens. There are many favorites as we as new ones this year. See the complete list of classes above on the Classes and Events link at the top. Here are a few highlights:

  • Bonsai Workshop - Sat, March 2nd
    Robert Cho will be here to introduce you to the art of bonsai. As part of this popular class, participants will plant 5-6 year old juniper to train and take home. Robert is the owner of Asia Pacific Gardening, you may have seen him at the NW Flower and Garden Show.
  • Northwest Newcomers - March 6th and 9th
    Jenni McCain, CPH, has been helping new gardeners to the PNW get started for over a decade. We have a unique climate and interesting challenges in our corner of the world. Bring your questions.
  • The Living Screen - Wednesday, March 13th
    Jenni McCain, CPH, will teach you how to create privacy by planting a variety of trees and shrubs that go well beyond a monolithic laurel hedge.
  • The Buzz on Bees - Sun, March 17nd
    Charles Schafer is back! Bainbridge Island beekeeper Charles Schafer will introduce some of our planet's 20,000 species of bees and discuss how to create the habitats they need.
  • New Class: Planting a Seaside Garden - Sat, March 23rd
    Jenni McCain, CPH, discusses a scenario that affects a lot of residents that live on an island. Finding the right plants that survive salt spray, wind, sand, etc. can be a challenge, especially ones that are both beautiful and tough.
  • Your Best Veggie Harvest - Sun, March 24th
    Brian MacWhorter of Butler Green Farms is back to provide advice on how to get the most out of your veggie garden. Bring your questions! Beginner and experienced gardeners are welcome!
  • New! Pretty Pots for Pollinators - Wed, March 27th
    Members of the Bainbridge Gardens staff will demonstrate how to plant container gardens that attract bees, birds, and butterflies!

IT'S TIME TO GET
OUTSIDE AGAIN

Have you noticed that the days are a little longer? Perhaps it's hard to tell when it's cloudly all day, but the signs of spring are there...just a little hidden.

Here are some early spring ideas to get you going:

  • Give your garden a boost of color. Potted spring bulbs are now showing color. Colorful ranunculus have just come in. Primroses, winter pansies, hellebores and more give your planters a splash of needed color.
  • Treat your nose as well as your eyes. We have lots of sarcoccoca, which fills the air with perfume and also has lovely dark green foliage. Witchhazel has a bewitching fragrance. Daphne odora as the name implies is a favorite with fragrance lovers.
  • Start your fruit tree shopping. Apples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches, and other fruit trees have come in. Some varieties, especially the combo trees go quickly, so select them soon. Want to see what we just got in? Click here to see our fruit tree list for 2024. (Note that we also have some trees varieties for sale that are not on this list.)
  • Onions have potatoes have entered the building. They can be planted in the early spring (when the soil is workable) in well-draining soil. (They may need a little protection from hard freezes.)
  • Also get your roses, natives, maples, and more. And more coming in soon.

BRING ON
THE MASON BEES

Our little tease of sunny weather has brought about a flurry of activity near our mason bee houses. As it warms up, we expect to see even more.

Consider setting up a mason bee house near your fruit trees or flowering plants. Mason bees are amazing pollinators. Their pollination rate is 120 times greather than that of a honey bee! They rarely sting (males don't have stingers) and are solitary (vs hive) creatures.

Mason bees emerge from their cocoons in early-mid March, when the temperatures reach around 50-55 degrees. These docile bees will immediately begin to pollinate our early flowers, fruit trees, and shrubs. (We have a table of blueberries near our mason bee houses for this purpose.)

Mason bees have a pretty short lifespan. Males die shortly after mating. Females live for about six weeks. It's at this time that they go to work, laying eggs and pollinating your plants.

How to start housing mason bees:

    Basically, you need just a few things to start. A house, nesting materials, and some bees or bee cocoons.

  • Bee houses should be mounted along a sturdy wall where they are protected from wind and rain, such as an overhanging eve. The house should be placed where it will receive some sun, and face either south or west. Mason bees travel 200-300 feet, so place the house reasonably close to what you want to pollinate.
  • Mason bees will lay eggs in hole-drilled wood blocks, or paper tubes.
  • Wild bees can find your new housing, but it helps to get things started by adding farm-raised bees to the new house. We sell tiny boxes of cocoons. Simply open the little box and tape it to the side of the bee house. A healthy colony can multiply 7x in one season!

At the end of the year:

  • While you can leave the bees in their house through the winter; collecting and storing cocoons in the fall will help protect them from predators and parasites. Remove the cocoons from the nesting material and store in a mesh bag in your fridge until spring. Keep a wet sponge or cup of water near the cocoons so they don't dry out.
  • Before next spring, clean the house, remove any old tubes, etc. as mason bees will only lay eggs in clean houses.
  • If you want to get started or would like a handout on mason bees, drop by!

Previous articles:

Nov 2023 - Now that it's getting cooler

Oct 2023 - It's still time to plant garlic

SAFETY POLICIES AT BAINBRIDGE GARDENS

Face masks are optional throughout the nursery. We ask that if you are feeling ill and cannot wear a mask, please stay home and call us to arrange a contact-free delivery or curbside pickup. We continue to accept orders over the phone or by emailing us, but please note that these orders take 24-48 hours to fulfill.

Bainbridge Gardens is...

...a family-owned garden center located on a historic site on beautiful Bainbridge Island. Our six-acre nursery is well-stocked with large trees, native plants, unusual varieties of shrubs, bonsai, seasonal color, pots and garden art. We also have one of best selections of houseplants in the area. With plenty of parking and an extensive gift shop, Bainbridge Gardens is a popular spot for Islanders and out-of-town guests.