EVERETT — Debra and Adan Balangue get a kick out of the reactions that passersby have when they see the Balangues’ garden in the Evergreen neighborhood of south Everett.
“We’re often asked if we run a flower store,” Debra said with a laugh. “Some of our plants are in pots, and people ask if they can buy them.”
It’s a compliment, Adan said.
“I thank them and then tell people they can take a photo,” he said. “And then I tease them and say I am going to charge $1.”
The Balangues are winners of a city Monte Cristo award in the rejuvenation and transformation category.
Keeping Everett beautiful is important to the city and its economy, so each year homeowners and business owners are honored for their efforts to enhance the curb appeal of their properties. This year’s Monte Cristo awards reception and ceremony is set for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Everett Performing Arts Center.
The ceremony will feature photo presentations of the winning homes and businesses. It’s an opportunity to learn more about Everett’s neighborhoods and be inspired by three dozen great homes, said Wendy McClure, the city’s coordinator in its Office of Neighborhoods.
The Balangues, both in their late 40s, grew up in the Philippines and work as nurses in adult care facilities in Everett. They bought their home in early 2010 and began its transformation about three years ago.
“The poor guy who owned this corner lot before could not take care of it,” Debra said. “The lawn was grassy, brown and rocky. It had no plants.”
Adan, whose father was a farmer, has loved gardening for as long as he can remember.
He began to buy inexpensive seedlings and pick up planters and pavers at garage sales, especially in Mill Creek.
“Even my park bench is from a garage sale,” Adan said with a laugh. “Just $10.”
“It’s fun to help beautify our community and encourage others to make their homes more beautiful,” he said.
In the spring, Balangue’s neighbors enjoy his display of tulips. In the summer, it’s all about his begonias and potted annuals, which hang from and sit on top of the trellises he built in the front yard.
Other favorites include rhododendrons, roses, dahlias, flax and lilies. Pruned cedars and boxwood shrubs form the basic landscape.
Currently, Balangue’s pots and flower beds are filled with chrysanthemums, kale and other fall blooms just starting to come on. The hanging baskets are filled with a portulaca called “cupcake purslane.”
“The floral display changes with each season,” Adan said. “It’s my hobby. I prune, I cultivate, I move the plants around.”
The garden gives her husband a chance to be creative without spending much money, Debra said.
Her job is to water the peanuts (yes, peanuts!), strawberry pots and vegetable gardens growing in the backyard.
Watering also is the job of Jay Isaac, whose wife, Sue, is the head gardener at their home in the Cascade View neighborhood. Also on a corner lot, the home won a Monte Cristo award in 2005. This year, the Isaacs have been given the prestigious Marian Krell Award for their beautification efforts on an ongoing basis.
“We were surprised to be awarded the Marian Krell. It’s such an honor and I was tickled,” Sue Isaac said. “I have no formal training. I just love to garden, as did my mother. It’s all about trial and error.”
Margaret and Gary Fast, who have a bay view from their property, are the winners of this year’s Monte Cristo award in the Port Gardner neighborhood.
About 12 years ago, the couple ripped out the lawn in front of their house, replacing it with drought tolerant ground covers and plants that are now mature. More recently they replaced the back lawn with a patio.
“We made it through this past long, dry summer just fine,” Margaret said. “Now the main work is just keeping it all trimmed back.”
A mentor to young moms at her church, she told the women that seeking awards for doing what’s right isn’t the best choice.
“But then, tongue-in-cheek, I told them I had always wanted a Monte Cristo award that recognized all of our hard work,” Fast said. “I can guess who nominated us.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
If you go
Everett’s 21st annual Monte Cristo awards reception and ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave. For more information, go to www.everettwa.gov/montecristo.
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