Originally published July 5, 2009 at 12:00 AM | Page modified July 7, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print
Share
Corrected version
Northwest Living
One small plot serves as home, shop and town stopping spot
In the tiny town of Edison, Wash., one simple corner lot is home, shop and town gathering spot all in one.
MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The little garden on the main street of Edison is a hospitable place where Charles Atkinson, garden designer, and sculptor and jeweler David Blakesley entertain their friends and visit with passers-by. On this day, Randy Walker tends to oysters on the grill as Jessica Bonin and James Reisen start with some wine.
MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
"I overplant on purpose and then edit," says Atkinson of his cottage-garden style, which is an only slightly tamed mix of grasses, perennials and vegetables.
FARM TO MARKET Road winds through Skagit Valley potato fields, dairy farms and wetlands thick with migratory birds on its way to the little town of Edison. A fragrant bakery, a couple of bars, the Lucky Dumpster salvage shop and a handful of galleries make for a quiet destination. Farmers, artists and bikers populate the place, creating a distinct mixture of rural and hip. And nowhere more than in the old Farmers and Merchants Bank building on the main corner does this unique vibe coalesce. Shop Curator is the gallery, home and garden of David Blakesley and Charles Atkinson, a pair of hardworking originals who may by themselves be reviving the tradition of living behind the store.
Edison's downtown, if it can be called that, is zoned to encourage live-work situations, and as you'd expect, the businesses are locally owned. Still, Shop Curator must be the poster business for local ownership: it's retail, home and garden all on one small and very public plot. Passers-by stop to admire the garbage-can planter at the front door of the shop, step inside to peruse items from bones to bracelets, then, on their way out the door, admire Blakesley and Atkinson's updated take on a casual cottage garden.
"The natural world isn't about symmetry," says Atkinson, a garden designer who practices on his own garden. "I wanted the garden to have a loose feel, with different heights and textures but not many flowers."
The couple moved from a shady Bellingham garden to this sunny corner. They began work on the garden by removing a big tree, lawn and a rickety kid's play set. "Last year this was all unkempt grass," says Atkinson of the gravel paths that wind between beds of shrubs, vegetables and perennials. He stripped out sod, laid down cardboard to kill the roots and brought in good soil. All that's left of the original garden is a double white lilac, a scrap of aged rose, and the diseased old apple tree that serves as scaffold for a climbing David Austin rose.
In the sunniest part of the garden, Atkinson has planted heirloom corn, yellow squash and purple beans. Along the street, he put in a casual medley of California poppies, lavenders and grasses in soil that used to be saturated with oil from parked cars. "I salvaged the soil with alpaca manure," he says matter-of-factly.
Blakesley, a jeweler and sculptor who has a passion for found objects and discards, sells his own and other artists' work at Shop Curator. He brings his aesthetic out into the garden with an antique stove, piles of round rocks he's collected and a big metal frog on the roof overlooking the festivities below.
The renewed little garden is the town's living room, the place everyone peeks in to see what's blooming, then stops to chat. "The garden enriches our lives," concludes Blakesley. "It shows that Edison is alive, and we get to see our neighbors every morning."
Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "A Pattern Garden." Check out her blog at www.valeaston.com. Mike Siegel is a Seattle Times staff photographer.
![]()
The information in this story, originally published July 5, 2009, was corrected July 7, 2009. David Blakesley is a sculptor and jewelry designer in Edison, Wash. A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the artist as Michael Blakesly.
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
Seattle's parks in peril: the choices are to shrink, skimp or pay up
Taste: Muffuletta sandwiches are the Big Easy's best
Plant Life: Seattle's Fisher House offers a place of peace
NEW - 7:00 PM
Wine Adviser: Some good Washington wineries got away
Destinations - A Traveler's Glimpse: Earth Hour: lights out to make a difference

nwautos
Are you one of the many hanging onto their old beater? Or do you just love that new-car smell? When did you last purchase a vehicle? Take our poll or....
Post a comment
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Justin Wilcox's versatile defensive style is the right fit for Huskies | Jerry Brewer
- It's Terrence Time: Enigmatic Ross leads Huskies
- Social worker recounts minutes before Powell fire
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Club promoter convicted in brutal 2010 murder of Des Moines prostitute
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
434 - Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looming
346 - Sheriff's office unhappy with 911 dispatcher in caseworker's call
282 - 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
235 - Source: NY, California to sign mortgage settlement
207 - Oregon live game thread
152 - Pac-12 picks ... including the UW game
140 - Lakewood cop accused of taking donations for slain officers' families
114 - Department of Justice owes the Seattle Police Department an apology
88 - Thursday morning links --- and a video!!!
72
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Here it is: The secret to stir-fried chicken | Taste
- Local aerospace suppliers say they feel squeezed by Boeing
- Dicks channeled federal money to Puget Sound project his son ran
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review
- Buttoned Up: Nine immutable laws of time management
- Happy Hour: French-accented charm at Gainsbourg
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature













