Chickadee Gardens

 High on a hill overlooking Phinney Bay in Bremerton, Washington, rests a four-acre, non-profit botanical garden known as  Vista Gardens . This past July, my Great Plant Picks team toured many fabulous gardens in the Puget Sound region for our annual field days event; this garden, which I had not visited, left a lasting impression. It is a botanical garden that started as a private garden in 1998 with then two acres. Over the years it has expanded in size and mission. John Albers and his wife Santica Marcovina are passionate gardeners who wish to "further their mission of educating and inspiring the public about sustainable gardening practices," and with three books under his belt, John is well on his way to reaching a larger audience than simply the Puget Sound region. He is a Research Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, a role that feeds into his passion about environmental horticulture and landscaping with decades of experience in both. I imagine it