Bellevue, Washington
Seeds and cuttings,
free to a good garden
Tree peony seed, cute flower seeds, and fresh fruit tree cuttings — yours to take home, no charge. Premium cut stems are available too, pre-booked and paid ahead.
From the garden
What has been blooming
Check this page often. September weather here turns fast. If rain or wind forces a change of time, date, or place, the update is posted here and nowhere else.
The exact address is still being confirmed. It will be somewhere in Bellevue. Check back the morning of the 19th before you set out.
You will not get a confirmation email. The sign-up form exists so we know how many to prepare — that is all it does. Nothing is sent back to you, so write the date down yourself.
No charge
What you can take home
Take three of each type. Not three total — three per type, so a full basket is entirely possible. The cap keeps one early arrival from clearing the table before the 9:30 crowd gets there.
Bring your own bag or box. Cuttings travel best wrapped in a damp paper towel inside a plastic bag.
A word on the honeysuckle: it is Himalayan honeysuckle, Leycesteria formosa — the easiest thing on the table. Cuttings root readily, the shrub asks almost nothing of you once established, and hummingbirds go straight for the drooping white flowers with their wine-red bracts. Bees and other pollinators work it all summer, and birds take the berries in autumn. If you take one thing home, take this.
It seeds itself about fairly freely in our climate. Pull the seedlings you don’t want, or clip the berry spikes before they drop, and it stays exactly where you put it.
- Tree peony seedLimit 3
- Cute flower seedsLimit 3
- Plum cuttingsLimit 3
- Plumcot cuttingsLimit 3
- Himalayan honeysuckle cuttingsLimit 3
Pre-book and pay ahead
Premium cut stems
$5.50 per stemMinimum order is 3 stems. Mix the varieties however you like — three of one, or one each of three. Stems run roughly 40–50 cm and arrive direct from Alexandra Farms. David Austin, Wabara, Princess, and premium wedding varieties.
These stems are for decoration only — arrangements, bouquets, table work, drying. They are cut flowers, not planting material.
Orders close September 10. The farm order goes in the following morning, so nothing can be added after that — not on the day, not at the table. An unbooked stem is a stem that is not there.
These are booked and paid for in advance through the form below. Stem pick-up happens at the same time and place as the giveaway.
- David AustinPre-book
- WabaraPre-book
- PrincessPre-book
- Premium wedding assortmentPre-book
A note on the stems
The stems are for decoration
The stems are for decoration only — please do not propagate them. Nearly every rose on the stem table is a protected variety.
Three are exceptions. Their patents have run out, so these are free to root:
- MeivildoMeilland
- AusjamesonDavid Austin
- AusimmonDavid Austin
Those three are named by cultivar code where one exists, which is the correct way to refer to a variety outside its trademarked selling name. Everything else being cut for the 19th is still under patent — take it for the vase and enjoy it there.
Take one home as a plant
Want the plant, not just the bloom?
The three roses cleared for propagation are sold as living plants by Christine’s Rare Roses, along with a list of rare and hard-to-source varieties.
If a variety you saw in the gallery isn’t listed, ask her — the catalogue moves with the season.
Rose plants are not available at the event. Nothing from Christine’s Rare Roses is brought to the giveaway and none can be collected there. Local customers collect plants in person on a separate day, arranged after you order — we do not ship locally. Outside the area, plants ship as usual. Only the free seeds and cuttings, and pre-booked cut stems, change hands on the 19th.
Cut stems, year round
Not coming on the 19th?
Alexandra Farms stems are available through the marketplace whenever you need them, not only on giveaway day — the same David Austin, Wabara, Princess and wedding varieties, shipped direct.
Order a plant, not a cut stem
Rose plants from Christine’s Rare Roses
Four of the varieties on the stem table are also sold as living plants. These are ordered through the shop in the normal way — they are not part of the sign-up below and nothing is collected on the 19th.
Plants are not available at the event. Local customers collect plants in person on a separate day, arranged after you order — we do not ship locally. Outside the area, plants ship as usual. Jul and Mir are both off patent, so cuttings taken from your own plant are yours to root freely.
Headcount only
Sign up
This tells the team how much to prepare. It is not a ticket and it does not send you anything — there is no confirmation email, no reminder, no receipt for the free items. Keep your own note of the date.
See you on the 19th
Full details, the confirmed address, and any weather call are posted at phytu.com.
Rose plants from Christine’s Rare Roses · cut stems from Alexandra Farms