Edmonds garden of Marni Muir and Phill Butler is part of this year’s tour

EDMONDS — One of the highlights of this year’s Edmonds in Bloom Garden Tour is a lovely spot with a place in the city’s history.

About 100 years ago, the garden belonging to Marni Muir and her husband, Phill Butler, was part of P.H. Burdett’s Meadowdale Nursery.

It was a popular plant nursery and one that led to a lot of horticultural interest in south Snohomish County.

Muir and Butler have turned the nursery caretaker’s house and its surroundings into a lush oasis of hardy tropicals, native plants, bright annuals and climate-loving perennials.

Along with their 1926 home, the property includes a carriage house apartment and Muir’s modern art studio. It is replete with color, texture and an inviting nature, even at dusk when the garden lights come on.

The 20th annual Edmonds in Bloom tour is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 19 and includes six diverse gardens located throughout Edmonds. Some are art-inspired hideaways on small lots, others are quiet sanctuaries in dense neighborhoods and older gardens with sentimental value.

A seventh garden on the self-guided tour is the beautiful Hazel Miller Plaza at Fifth and Maple in downtown Edmonds. Musicians will be entertaining tourists at most of the stops.

“We are featuring a number of small gardens this year, with the hope that people can get a feel for what one can do in a smaller space,” Edmonds in Bloom spokeswoman Sharon Stout said. “The tour includes a nice mix of individual tastes.”

Muir bought her place in 1983. Over the course of 32 years, she tore out most of the lawn, built a South of France-style front patio, planted palm trees and bamboo, encouraged native plants (hers is a certified backyard wildlife habitat) and added several water features because she loves the sound of gurgling brooks and fountains.

“I am not some garden guru. I just know what I like,” Muir said. “These days I have help. A team. My hands don’t work like they used to and I get tired.”

Muir is quick to credit friends Pam Roy and Carol Murray for help with the design of the garden and the plant selection, as well as Jeff Strickland for the water features.

Muir appreciates plants that have sweet-smelling blossoms and she likes herbs that she can cut and use in her kitchen each day.

Honeysuckle, jasmine, daphne and lavender grow in numerous spots. The herb garden is located near the back porch.

Other edibles growing in the Muir-Butler garden are kiwi, peach, apple, blueberries, raspberries and a couple of mature fig trees.

The native plants include rhododendrons, fern, dogwood, salal and the Douglas fir and Western red cedar trees in the yard.

Along with the bamboo, Japanese maples add Asian accents to the garden.

Crocosmia, iris, sedums, heuchera, hosta, ornamental grasses and other perennials are accented with annuals such as zinnias, coneflowers, marigold and calibrachoa.

“Living near the water, I love the sunset colors,” Muir said.

A 1968 graduate of Edmonds High School, Muir finished her bachelor of fine arts degree just last month at the University of Washington. A longtime artist, art dealer and collector, she serves on the Edmonds Arts Commission and the board of Cascadia Art Museum, which is scheduled to open in September in Edmonds.

It’s no surprise then, that Muir includes a lot of art in her garden. Look for black and white ceramics by Larry Halvorsen, of Ballard, and a fanciful bird bath by Barb Wyatt, of Edmonds.

Among the sculptural elements in the garden are big pots full of canna, flowers and trees, including two upside down pots that serve as seats in one part of the garden.

Garden parties at her home are something Muir’s friends enjoy, and she and her husband are happy to oblige.

“I am blessed,” she said.

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.

If you go

The Edmonds in Bloom Garden Tour is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 19. Tickets are available at www.edmondsinbloom.com or at Sky Nursery, Garden Gear, Wight’s, Bountiful Home and the Frances Anderson Center. Cost is $15 in advance or $20 on the day of the tour.