Susie's Garden Talks

Susie Egan gives talks on various gardening topics. Her audiences have included:
  • Local Northwest Gardening Clubs
  • NW Perennial Alliance & affiliated neighborhood groups
  • Arboretum Foundation Units
  • Master Gardeners of King, Pierce & Snohomish County
  • King County Libraries
  • City of Seattle Public Utilities
  • City of Seattle Parks & Recreation Department
  • Cascade Water Alliance
  • Northwest Flower & Garden Show
  • Socttish Rock Garden Club
  • North American Rock Garden Society
  • Alpine Garden Society
Susie also travels out-of-state and internationally and was selected as the Scottish Rock Garden club’s traveling speaker of the year in 2014, quite a prestigious honor.

List of Susie's Garden Talks

The Wonderful World of Trilliums

It’s all about trilliums! What is the fascination people have for this beautiful wildflower? Why does it holds a special place in the hearts of many? Come and enjoy an interesting and unique talk on this endangered wildflower covering its evolution, descriptions and photos of the different trillium species, how to grow them in your own garden and even how to propagate them by seed or cuttings. By the end of the talk you will be totally in love with trilliums! The talk will also include a visual tour of Cottage Lake Gardens, a two-acre private botanical garden on the eastern shore of Cottage Lake that grows all 50 species of the world’s trilliums and hosts annual Trillium Tea, Talk & Tours each spring.

A Symphony of Spring Ephemerals

Come learn about those sweet little woodland gems, the earliest wildflowers to unfurl during the warmth and light of early spring. This is a delightful talk and PowerPoint presentation with many beautiful photos of these wonderful spring ephemerals including unusual Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra), Wood Anemones & Anemonellas, Dodecatheon (Shooting Stars), Trout Lilies (Erythronium), and last but not least, Trilliums. You will learn all about them and how you can grow them in your own gardens. Many of the photos were taken at Cottage Lake Gardens.

Shade Gardening: Bring Beauty to Your Garden With Shade-Loving Plants

Embrace the shade! It's fun and easy. This talk will help you learn how to garden in the shade and understand the different levels of shade. Susie will share her favorite shade and woodland plants and show you how to design your own serene shade garden. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the shade.

Creating Natural Beauty by Gardening With Washington-Native Plants

Learn more about the big trend toward planting native plants, why it has become so popular and how you can create a beautiful and earth-friendly home garden by incorporating them into your own garden. You'll learn which native plants work best in smaller urban gardens and also how they provide shelter and food for the wildlife. And did we mention they are low maintenance? Susie Egan will cover all types of native plants from native trees, shrubs, perennials, ferns and groundcovers. She'll also provide resources such as great websites, books, and places to obtain native plants.

Great Gardening: Gardening Basics for All Gardeners

This talk is ideal for new gardeners and even a brush-up for veteran gardeners. It covers the basics of gardening starting with how to improve your soil, how to select plants that will thrive in your garden, proper planting, watering and pruning techniques, all for lasting success that will also save you time and money. You will learn how to design and create a garden that is both beautiful and healthy – for you and the environment. Includes handouts with valuable resources (websites, apps, books, etc.) to help you succeed. The emphasis of this class is more on ornamental gardening as opposed to vegetable gardens.

Fall Fireworks

Join this talk, where you’ll learn about incorporating various trees, shrubs, and perennials into your fall garden to add color, texture, and drama. You’ll also view a slideshow featuring plants known for their stunning fall hues.

Wonderful Plants With Winter Interest

During this talk, you’ll view a colorful PowerPoint presentation showing trees, shrubs, perennials, and groundcover that grow in our region during the winter months. Many of the photos you’ll see were taken at Cottage Lake Gardens. You’ll also come home with a list of Susie’s favorite plants that can provide beautiful winter interest to your garden.

Winterizing the Garden (aka “Putting the Garden to Bed”)

Learn about everything you should do during the fall months to prepare your garden for winter. By doing many of these tasks ahead of time, your garden will have a head start the following spring. Susie will also give you a handy checklist to motivate you to begin your fall cleanup and winter preparations.

Botanical Latin Made Easy

Gain a better understanding of botanical Latin by attending this talk. You’ll learn why botanical names are important and how Carl Linnaeus created the binomial plant-naming system in the early 1700s, which we still use today. It’s an interesting spin on a sometimes boring or intimidating topic.