EVERETT — Something is always in bloom at Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens.
In the summer, the gardens are a riot of color. In December, twinkling lights transform the landscape in the garden behind Legion Park.
This year’s Wintertide Lights at the arboretum are the most dazzling yet.
“We’ve decorated it to the hilt,” spokesperson Renee Greanleaf said. “Every year we’ve grown by about 20%. This year, we’ve lit up 28 trees in one garden alone. When we first started, we had just 28 trees total.”
The free event runs from 4-8 p.m. daily through December. Over 10,000 visitors attend annually. Many return every year to walk through the lights.
“What started as something so simple has turned into something that brings so much joy,” Greenleaf said.
Spend 15 minutes or an hour or until your feet and hands get too cold. The lights stay on, rain or snow.
Along with help from the city, a dedicated group of volunteers maintains the 3½-acre garden in Legion Park. The park’s 12 themed gardens with ADA-approved pathways make it accessible for all visitors.
In addition to Wintertide Lights, the arboretum hosts various other events, such as a plant sale, seasonal festivals and a sculpture walk.
“People come all year long now,” Greenleaf said. “For many years, we were Everett’s best-kept secret. But Wintertide Lights has really put us on the map, and now people know who we are.”
Greenleaf said talk of lighting the garden was “just a pipe dream until COVID hit.”
“That’s when Tyler Chism from the city called and said they were looking for ways to help people gather while staying 6 feet apart. And just like that, Wintertide Lights was born,” she said.
Chism credits the volunteers at the arboretum.
“They are the ones who did work to make it happen,” said Chism, the city’s placemaking program manager.
“It is wonderful to see the arboretum active during the dark and rainy winter season. It’s a free thing families can do together and get outside and get into nature and experience the arboretum in a new way,” he said.
The arboretum is one facet of the Wintertide Lights glee.
“The arboretum is an example of what we’re trying to do with Wintertide, which is to work with organizations throughout the city to partner in ways we can make an incredible season-long series of events,” Chism said.
Downtown Everett has holiday happenings, gleaming storefronts and a lighted tree over the Colby and Hewitt intersection. Waterfront Lights at the Port of Everett runs until Jan. 15.
Better bundle up the fam and fill up the thermos with hot cocoa.
Andrea Brown is a freelance writer and former employee of the Everett Herald.
Wintertide events at the arboretum
• Luminaries Workshops: 4-6 p.m. Dec. 7 and 14, taught in the arboretum classroom by staff from Imagine Children’s Museum. The Seniors Group at the YMCA and teens from Schack Center also hold their own luminary classes. Luminaries can be made many ways, using bags, globes or milk jugs.
• Solstice Luminary Walk: 5-7 p.m. Dec. 21. Music and storytelling will take place in the gazebo at 5, 5:45 and 6:30 p.m. Bring your own luminary or use a milk jug luminary at the event (suggested donation: $5).
• Light a Tree Wintertide fundraiser: Donations keep the lights on. A $250 donation will light up a tree, $100 will light a bush and $50 will light a gnome.
Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens, 145 Alverson Blvd., Everett.
Phone: 425-257-8597
Email: contactus@evergreenarboretum.com
Web: evergreenarboretum.com
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