Time to firm up a few details for our May 16th Whidbey event.
We had talked about going to Meerkerk. I contacted the Exec Director, who is an acquaintance of mine, and following is her reply. I had hoped for a bit of a break on the entrance fee. Obviously that did not happen. :( Before committing the group, I wanted to make sure everyone knew the costs upfront, so you could vote and decide whether 1, to have her 'guide' us, 2, to go on our own, or 3, not go at all.
I will say she knows absolutely everything there is to know about rhodies and most other perennials. She's also very entertaining and has a great personality. She can, and will, go on for hours, so we'd need to give her a time limit.
Here's what she had to say:
Thank you for your email!
Our season is early- yet with the late blooming rhododendrons and all the new foliage coming on after bloom, rhododendron enthusiasts will have plenty to see and enjoy.
I will be happy to give a guided tour for you and your friends, and make it worth their while.
The Gardens’ rate for a guided tour is $10 per person which includes the $8 per person admission fee.
When you have your plans firmed up, let me know the time and size of your group.
Also, if your friends have special interests, like propagation, pruning or hybridizing- or if they’d like to do some hands on fun with plants- let me know.
So you see we could have a fun customized tour. The place is lovely, so even walking around by ourselves would be really nice. They have a small nursery there, too, if you're in the market for rhodies.
Other costs involved for the day would be ferry fees. The ferry fee from Mukilteo to Clinton is $7 each way,so $14 round trip. That's just for the car. Passenger fares are charged to everyone but the driver. They are only charged in one direction (Mukilteo to Clinton direction). The charge is $4.10 per person and $2.05 for seniors.
If you're coming from a direction where you need to ride additional or different ferries, you can check the cost and times and all on the ferry websites. Just type in the name of the terminal and a link should pop up.
So the plan was to meet at Meerkerk (or at my house and carpool to Meerkerk) around 10am. If you take the 9:30 ferry, it would put you at Meerkerk around 10:15 or 10:20, so unless we want to push the time up a bit earlier, we should say everyone will plan to be at Meerkerk at that time, and not right at 10am. If you were on the 9am ferry, you'd have time to meet at my house and carpool.
After an hour to an hour and a half at Meerkerk, we'll head back down the island to Carole's house for a tour of her garden. After that, we'll come back to my house for a tour here, lunch, and some fun activities I have planned.
After that, for those who don't have to rush back to the ferry, there will be the option to go visit the Chocolate Flower Farm and/or Cultus Bay Nursery, both which are very fun and worthwhile. CFF is about 5 minutes from my house and about the same distance to the ferry as my house is. CBN is about 15 minutes from my house and is down toward the ferry, about 10 minutes from the ferry. So we can play that by ear on the day of because I don't want to rush us at either Carole's place or mine!
The good news is there should be no ferry line wait for either direction on the day of our event. I have put my order in for perfect weather.
So let me know what you all want to do about going to Meerkerk, so I can let the director know our plans and wishes.
http://www.chocolateflowerfarm.com/
http://www.cultusbaynursery.com/
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/fares/FaresDetail.aspx?tripdate=&departingterm=14&arrivingterm=5
