information from West Seattle Garden Tour

 West Seattle Garden Tour announces it has selected seven local non-profits as beneficiaries of the 24th annual tour. Proceeds from the 2018 garden tour will support improvements to four public gardens, a summer theater program for youth, the Urban Forest Symposium, and a mural restoration project in West Seattle.

Each year West Seattle Garden Tour, a 501(c)(3) organization, seeks out other non-profits whose goals fit their mission—to promote horticultural-based interests, educational projects, and arts programs—within West Seattle and neighboring communities. The garden tour’s designated beneficiaries for 2018 are: ArtsWest, the Arboretum at South Seattle College, Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden, Little Red Hen Project, PlantAmnesty, Seattle Chinese Garden, and West Seattle Junction Association.

West Seattle Garden Tour intends to raise $26,750 for the seven local projects from the sale of garden tour tickets, a raffle on tour day and sponsorship revenue. Information about the selected beneficiaries and the projects WSGT expects to fund can be found at westseattlegardentour.org/beneficiaries.

ARTSWEST

Funds from West Seattle Garden Tour will support ArtsWest’s Theater Education Program, where students learn more than how to sing, dance, and act. They learn how to think creatively, take calculated risks and work as a team.

West Seattle Garden Tour was originally founded in 1995 to fund ArtsWest. As the tour has evolved over the years to support a variety of community organizations promoting horticulture, education and the arts, ArtsWest remains as the tour’s legacy beneficiary. | artswest.org

THE LITTLE RED HEN PROJECT

The Little Red Hen Project provides the Delridge community with an opportunity to grow and maintain a backyard food source through a learning garden and classes at the Delridge Community Center. West Seattle Garden Tour will fund construction of an artistic and functional trellis in the “Winter Feast Garden” located at the heart of their recently expanded 4,800 square-foot garden space.| thelittleredhenproject.org

THE ARBORETUM AT SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE

West Seattle Garden Tour funding will provide for the design and construction of a new message hub and kiosk at the Arboretum’s south entrance, creating a large, attractive presence to welcome visitors to the site. | sscarboretum.org

HIGHLINE SEATAC BOTANICAL GARDEN

West Seattle Garden Tour funding will pay for the design and construction of a “Victory Garden” within a Neighborhood Heritage Garden. The Neighborhood Heritage Garden commemorates the neighborhood history of the houses that once existed on the property before SeaTac Airport’s runway expansion | highlinegarden.org

PLANT AMNESTY

West Seattle Garden Tour’s financial support will help fund the 10th annual Urban Forest Symposium which brings together arborists, land managers, planners, volunteers, and advocates from around the region. This year’s theme focuses on building effective partnerships for a healthy urban forest. Participants will learn to leverage their unique skills in coalition to accomplish shared goals of the broader Northwest horticultural community. | plantamnesty.org

SEATTLE CHINESE GARDEN

The Seattle Chinese Garden inspires exploration of nature and culture through a harmonious intermingling of landscape and traditional architecture in a secluded setting atop Puget Ridge. In 2018, West Seattle Garden Tour funding will enhance the Garden with three varieties of camellia shrubs—Camellia sinensis (the tea plant), spring blooming Camellia japonica, and late fall’s glorious red blossoms of Camellia sasanqua. | seattlechinesegarden.org

WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION ASSOCIATION

West Seattle Garden Tour funding will help restore “The Mosquito Fleet” mural which is affixed to the historic Campbell Building in the Junction, bringing it back to its former glory. This mural is one of eleven murals originally created from 1989 to 1993 to provide a unique window on the Duwamish peninsula’s rich history and identity. | wsjunction.org

ABOUT WEST SEATTLE GARDEN TOUR

Since its inception in 1995, West Seattle Garden Tour has been one of the premier garden tours in the Northwest, as well as a fundraiser for local non-profits. The all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization annually donates approximately $25,000 to local beneficiaries in support of their horticultural, educational and artistic missions. The 2018 tour is on Sunday, June 24. Tickets are on sale now on the tour’s website. In early May, they will also be on sale at four retail outlets to be announced in the coming weeks. | westseattlegardentour.org.