Picture Perfect Queen Anne
“I like donating to Picture Perfect Queen Anne. I can always see where my money is going.” — the late John Coney
Maintenance — the word doesn’t have a glamorous ring to it. Yet, maintenance is what sustains our gardens and keeps them beautiful. From spreading compost, to watering, weeding, removing litter and pruning, it’s what keeps plants thriving. Take away maintenance and the gardens would be in sad shape — about as far away from glamorous as you can get.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, maintenance is at the forefront of what Picture Perfect Queen Anne does.
Maintenance is Vertumni Fine Landscaping and Gardening, whose crew delivers and spreads compost each spring, waters each summer and prunes and removes litter year-round.
Maintenance is also purchasing plants and digging through tangles of roots to remove spent plants and set in new ones.
Board members walked the gardens from McGraw to Galer streets in early September with a critical eye as to fall planting needs. We noted just how our test plants had fared in their various locations over the spring and summer, where the empty spots were that needed new plants and whether any of the original plants that went into the ground in 2009 had reached the end of their lifespan.
With copious notes and diagrams, we ordered numerous plants, organized a planting party and put new plants into the ground on Oct. 7. Here are the highlights of what you can expect to see now:
•Three new lavender plants replacing the woody lavender plant in the garden in front of Pizza Hut (2231 Queen Anne Ave. N.);
•Four new “Hot Lips” salvia (to go with the “Red Seduction” yarrow) in various McGraw gardens;
•New Mugo pines in the garden in front of Five Hooks (2232 Queen Anne Ave. N.) and at Boston Street;
•New ground covers, including red-flowering Delosperma in most of the garden beds;
•New yuccas, asters and penstemon; and
•Coming into bloom in late winter: newly planted Crocus bulbs.
Thanks ever so much to all our hardworking volunteers who dug everything into the ground in record time: Virginia Hand, Faye Greenlee, Candace Carlson and Sheila Callahan, working alongside board members Kathy King, Ellen Monrad and Elaine Talbot.
Thanks, too, to Mother Nature, who made sure that there was sufficient rainfall on Oct. 10 to give a good watering to all our new plants.
What an unusual year for plants! Right now, it almost looks like spring in the gardens. Lavender, aster and yarrow are still in bloom. Happy fall!
— Elaine Talbot and Margaret Okamoto, board members
QUEEN ANNE HELPLINE
Fun, food, fantastic prizes and fundraising — all these elements combined to make for a wonderful celebration of community on Oct. 10 at Queen Anne Helpline’s Taste of Queen Anne. We raised a record amount: $152,000 — thank you all so much!
It takes a village to organize an event like the Taste. Kudos to committee co-chairs Sharon O’Boyle and Giselle Warner, whose leadership, vision and commitment helped create a really stunning event. They were assisted by a terrific team of tireless volunteers — everyone from students to Rotary members to caring neighbors.
Special thanks to Don Milgate and Marty Perlman, who donated their photography expertise (check out their photos on our website: QueenAnneHelpline.org).
Thanks so much to all our sponsors for their tremendous support; all the proceeds from the evening’s festivities will go directly to help neighbors in need. These include HomeStreet Bank (title sponsor), Metropolitan Market and Delta Air Lines (Chef’s Choice sponsor), Union Bank (matching gift sponsor) and entrée sponsors Jan Selvar/Windermere Real Estate, Aegis Living on Queen Anne, Vulcan, Davis Wright Tremaine and Amazon.
Sincere thanks also to our dessert sponsors Siderius Lonergan & Martin, Nicole Demers-Changelo/Windermere Real Estate, Bayview Retirement Community and Emerald Bay Equity; cocktail sponsors Ron Wright & Associates/Architects, Sellen Construction, Cedar Grove, Beard Stacey & Jacobsen, Sierra Construction and Queen Anne & Magnolia News; hors d’oeurvres sponsors Heidi Ward Real Estate, George Andrade/Edward Jones, Marqueen Garage, George R. Pierce & Associates and Rafael Carrabba Violins, with additional thanks to Cricket O’Neill/Windermere Real Estate.
To everyone who donated raffle and auction items: You helped make for a very energetic and fun evening — thank you!
We hugely appreciate so many local restaurants generously donating their delicious food: Agave, Via Tribunali, Ponti Seafood Grill, 5-Spot, Hilltop Alehouse, Eden Hill, Bounty Kitchen, Cupcake Royale, Chocolopolis, Jewel Hospitality, Le Reve, Mondello, Lloyd Martin, Morfey’s Cakes, Queen Bee, T.S. McHugh, Ten Mercer, Taylor Shellfish, Maggie Bluffs and Palisade.
Thanks, as well, to Pagliacci for donating pizza for volunteers and to The Pike Brewing Co. for donating the beer!
We are so grateful for the support of the table captains: Thank you for filling the room and helping create such a lively evening. The beautiful centerpieces were donated by Met Market donated the beautiful centerpieces, Carole Jones provided the graphics and production expertise and the Rat City Rollergirls once again donned boas and skates to help sell Golden Raffle tickets. You are all awesome!
We also deeply appreciate the generosity of St. Anne Parish, who, for the third year in a row, donated Banchero Hall for this event.
And, finally, heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended and provide such generous support — because it truly does take a village.
— Lisa Moore, executive director
QUEEN ANNE CHAMBER
We will celebrate trick-or-treat on Queen Anne Avenue North on Oct. 30, from 3 to 6 p.m. this year. This gives the after-school program and other businesses that close on the weekends a chance to part of this fun event. Contact Diane Keller at garagemarqueen@gmail.com to volunteer to be a crossing guard.
Stringing the lights for our yearly holiday tree lighting on Queen Anne Avenue starts soon. The Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce (QACC) has been the fiscal sponsor and has taken on the task of securing the best and most reasonable firm to light our avenue. However, we need your involvement in this project. Each tree that is out in front of your business must be paid for and addressed for power concerns.
If you own the building your business is in, then you can designate where the power should connect. If you are leasing, we’re asking that you contact the owner to find out where power should be connected so that you, the lighting company and the owner are on the same page.
Now for the best part: This year, the trees cost $215 each. The increase of $15 is because the lights have been upgraded to LED lights, thus making the cost much less for electricity.
We ask that you send or drop off your check to QACC, 2212 Queen Anne Ave. N., Suite 809, before Nov. 1.
Starting Nov. 2, we will offer the community the opportunity to “adopt” a tree. Our timeline is to have all trees up and lit by Thanksgiving.
For those of you who find the value in making this a beautiful community time of year, as well as a fabulous advertising opportunity, we thank you. For those of you who choose not to be involved, we will offer your tree to someone else. Contact Charley Shore (Charley@QueenAnneChamber.org) or Diane Keller (garagemarqueen@gmail.com) or (206) 412-5802 to help light a tree.
Save the date: Holiday Magic in Upper Queen Anne will take place Dec. 5 and 6. The QACC holiday luncheon is on Dec. 17.
— Charley Shore, executive director