Were you part of the smiling crowd attending July’s grand opening celebration of the Soos Creek Botanical Garden and History Center in Auburn? This lovely 22 acre garden (including 10 acres of woodland) is a gift to the public from owners Maurice Skagen and James Daly, who have been developing the garden since 1967.

The garden sits on part of the original 200 acres that Skagen’s Norwegian immigrant ancestors settled in the late 1800s. Maurice first began acquiring plants as research for his master’s thesis. Later, tours of gardens in England and Japan inspired the creation of “stroll” gardens. What started as a hobby grew exponentially for Maurice and his partner Jim over the past 44 years.

In 2009, a volunteer group joined them to help create the Soos Creek Botanical Garden Foundation to open a public, non-profit garden. The group includes about two dozen volunteers ranging from ages 50 to 85.

The garden is meant to provide the experience of strolling amongst a variety of inspirational and mature gardens which draw from international, regional and historical designs. Publicity chairperson Barbara Nagel says that the garden is divided into several smaller gardens, “including the Heritage Garden with many Old-Fashioned roses, peonies and iris. The Secret Garden is charming and semi-enclosed with benches to sit and enjoy the beauty. The Long Perennial Border Gardens, over 500 feet in length, have a  wide grassy strip, which rolls gently down hill, and ends in a meadow of native plants – Soos Creek flows through this area of the Garden. Bird watchers will enjoy the small aviary and duck pond on the property.” A demonstration vegetable garden to benefit local food banks was added in February.

Photo by Barbara Retelle

Soos Creek Botanical Garden is located at 29308 132nd Ave SE in Auburn. Hours are seasonal, currently Wed-Sat, 10am to 3pm. For information, call 253-639-0949 or visit sooscreekbotanicalgarden.org On September 14 & 21, Soos Creek Botanical Garden will host a slide show and lecture by art historian Susan Olds on “The History of the Flower.”

This article recently appeared in the September 2011 issue of Northwest Prime Time, the Puget Sound region’s monthly publication celebrating life after 50. For more information, visit www.NorthwestPrimeTime.com