SPOKANE, Wash. — Gardeners have been hard at work this month planting nearly 30,000 annual flowers in Manito Park’s Duncan Gardens.
This year’s colorful display is inspired by one gardener’s find during a trip to Mexico.
Spokane Parks and Recreation gardener Jed Wagner said they begin planting flowers and other plants in mid-May every year to get beyond the risk of frost. It took a little more than a week to complete planting in Duncan Gardens this year, while it typically takes several weeks.
“Every year is a little different based on the design and what’s necessary for plant placement and things like that,” Wagner added.
He said crews of between five and ten people work eight hours a day to plant in the garden and water the beds as they go.
“This year we were fortunate to have some cool weather after that hot stint and not have the plants stressed as much,” he added. “When we first started planted, they were having issues because it was so hot.”
Wagner said marigolds are heavily featured in this year’s Duncan Gardens design, along with geraniums and other flowers. Visitors will see anywhere between 20 to 40 different types of flowers while walking through the garden this summer.
Another more uncommon addition to Duncan Gardens this year are sunflowers.
“We have a new one down here that we haven’t tried before. We’ve had sunflowers some years, but this year we have a Mexican sun flower and it’s orange – bright orange – so that’ll be an interesting feature this year,” he said.
Wagner said this year’s theme is fiesta salsa, which includes a bright and varied color palette. It was based on some hot pink, bright orange and yellow flowers featured in the garden last summer.
“We knew we wanted to use that color palette, so, under that theme, trying to make all of those crazy carnival colors work,” he said.
Photos: Manito Park's Duncan Gardens
A piece of artwork that Wagner picked up during a family trip to Mexico inspired what eventually became the color scheme and designs for this year’s floral displays. He based it on the art piece’s beading pattern.
Apart from his work as a gardener, Wagner described himself as a “creative person” whose outlets include playing the piano and making electronic music.
“I’ve dabbled in artwork here and there and, to me, tone and color have a similar frequency and similar relation. When I create a piece of music, I always think of a theme and seeing that would tie in really well with getting started with this,” he said. “I definitely tied in that creative aspect to the planning.”
Wagner also credited the knowledge and creativity of other gardeners and workers who helped him with the design and planning.
Mid-August is the peak bloom point for Duncan Gardens, Wagner said. He expects a strong show of color by mid-July.
One of Wagner’s favorite parts of the job is receiving positive feedback from the public when they visit the garden. His face lit up with a smile when KREM asked him about visitors’ reception.