On a coolish morning in downtown Edmonds, a heavy fog pressing down on the city and the ferry foghorn providing a soundtrack, another sign of fall and impending winter became apparent.
Workers from the Parks and Recreation Department’s Park Maintenance Department took down the colorful, flower-laden hanging baskets lining Fifth Avenue South, Main Street, Five Corners and other parts of town.
The baskets—there are more than 150 of them—are part of the city’s street beautification program, which also includes flower beds in front of businesses, started in the mid 1970s. (The Edmonds Floretum Club, on its website, notes that in 1956 it worked with the Chamber of Commerce to make 50 hanging baskets for downtown beautification.)
The hanging basket flowers are planted in April and kept in a greenhouse, said horticulturalist Debra Dill of Parks and Recreation. They are generally placed in the baskets during the first week of June.
This year’s smaller baskets featured red geraniums, while larger ones were a riot of purple petunias and other colorful flowers.
Edmonds’ horticulture program is paid for by the city’s general and parks trust fund, as well as from support from the Edmonds Floretum Garden Club and Edmonds in Bloom.
