The company that owns Port Gamble is Pope Resources and they own everything, from the maple leaves in the trees to the puddles of water; from the trails on the edge of town to 100+ year old buildings.
And it is amazing what the owners of this "company town" have done with that ownership. First, let's talk about the flowers. Yes, it appears that one of the most important items that this town, known among some for its mill town appearance in the 1900's, is it's flowers. And that influence is growing stronger by the year.
About five years ago the owners decided to build a wedding space.
But what says "bride" faster than flowers? Mostly crammed with bright colored annuals, all the planting areas could not look more festive. And how do they do it? They own all those planting areas and they are committed to making sure the staff is committed too.
But Port Gamble's commitments to beauty continue throughout their property, led by the renters holding property there. One such place is Quilted Strait, rented by Pope Resources to a lady (my wife) who is just as committed as they are to beauty. She and I arranged to have the staff of Port Gamble scrape the grass off a large area directly in front of the store and we then planted large numbers of perennials which are finally showing their best sides. And the growth and color continues.
Last fall I made my own attempt to add the color and texture of flowers to the front of one of the businesses, Tango Zulu, an importer of hand made products. I knew the thickness of the cover of maples on that side of the town would prevent some of the light from coming through, but the flowers knew what they were doing. They threw their effort into making the leaves into the center of color, a unique look for that area.
The most recent addition of flowers has been brought to Port Gamble by the members of the Kitsap County Dahlia Society. This organization has already flooded the grounds of two other towns, Bremerton and Silverdale, but now they have crowded the gardens (and I say that very positively) of one more, Port Gamble. Let me bore you with a few statistics. There are literally hundreds of varieties of Dahlias, and the Society is always looking for some they don't have. In the backyard of Olympic Kayak there is a field with the flowers growing on sticks driven in the ground, about 30 sticks by 50 sticks, with 3 flowers per stick. In the front yard of the post office they intend to have 300 flowers. How many flowers did they add to this town? You do the math. Bill and Nancy Jones are members of the Dahlia Society that oversee the work done in Port Gamble and Mark Smith is Port Gamble's gardener - this team of Smith and Jones is responsible for the array of dahlias just beginning to bloom.
Bill Jones Mark Smith Nancy Jones
Want to see even more Dahlias than you can see at Port Gamble? You are in luck. You are just in time for the 90th annual show Kitsap County Show, which lately has been held each year at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. And it is coming soon. Their show will be held on August 2 and 3. Check our link with them in the last paragraph by clicking on "Kitsap County Dahlia Society".
I am amazed how brides take to the flowers here at Port Gamble. Kris and I used to live in one of the houses that had a massive array of hydraingeas around the front porch -- a massive display that even I could not see over. And constantly the brides, when walking from their wedding at the church to the reception at the pavilion would stop in front of our house and get their photographer to take their photo. And why not? Port Gamble is a wonderful place for weddings.
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