This Puyallup gardener cultivates community in her landscape and beyond
- Lorene Edwards Forkner
- Aug 19
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 28
By Lorene Edwards Forkner. This story first appeared in Pacific NW magazine in The Seattle Times on February 15, 2025.
many things grow in gardens — some might even say everything: food, clothing, shelter. To that list of valuable services and benefits, I would add that gardens grow community. Gardens bring people together.
“The more I learned about plants, the more the lawn shrank, and the more interesting and colorful my garden became.”
If Camille Paulsen had a (garden) dating profile, it might read: “Optimistic and undaunted gardener seeks same. Must be curious, resourceful, resilient and willing to tend and grow through winter chill, sodden spring, summer heat and glorious ripening fall. Let’s connect!”
Paulsen, who grew up in Georgia, was born into a family of gardeners. “My mother loved the ornamental aspect of gardening, while my father and grandmother both grew loads of fruits and vegetables,” she recalls. “I dabbled in gardening when I lived in the South but could never truly enjoy being in my garden in the summertime.” Extreme heat, oppressive humidity and bugs have a way of dampening a young gardener’s enthusiasm.
When the once-reluctant gardener, along with her husband and two daughters, moved to Washington in 2011, purchasing a hillside home overlooking the Puyallup River Valley with an astonishing view of Mount Rainier, Paulsen quickly embraced year-round gardening in mild Pacific Northwest conditions. But it was the forced removal of a magnificent Douglas fir in the family’s front yard in 2015 that catalyzed her urge to dig deeper.
Grieving the loss of beauty, privacy and shade, Paulsen set about transforming a ho-hum lawn with a huge bare spot into a welcoming oasis. “I began joining local horticultural organizations, taking classes, attending lectures, visiting gardens and soaking up as much plant knowledge as I could,” she says. “The more I learned about plants, the more the lawn shrank, and the more interesting and colorful my garden became.”
VOLUNTEERS ARE THE lifeblood of garden organizations that rely on members donating their time and resources to support educational programing and maintain public gardens. As her personal garden flourished, Paulsen made a point of giving back to those groups that helped her grow, beginning with the Northwest Perennial Alliance in 2017.
The NPA border at Bellevue Botanical Garden is hallowed ground for local gardeners, as well as thousands of out-of-town visitors each year who come to be inspired among the artful plant combinations. In addition to tending the border, NPA is known for its ambitious Open Gardens program, which invites members to tour private gardens throughout the Puget Sound region from May through September. Paulsen says, “Visiting gardens is a terrific way to deepen connections within the gardening community.”
As an active board member of the Northwest Horticultural Society and the Hardy Fern Foundation, Paulsen helps develop in-person classes and local garden tours. Every spring, along with other HFF members, you’ll find her, clippers in hand, cutting back ferns at an annual work party at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, a serene 22-acre woodland in Federal Way that also is HFF’s primary display garden.
Paulsen also is on the board of the Tacoma Garden Club, an organizational member of The Garden Club of America. In addition to volunteering at the Northwest Native Plant Garden at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, she helps organize horticultural workshops; hosts a quarterly book club; and writes for “The Potting Shed,” the club’s online monthly newsletter. Paulsen is also active with local chapters of The Maple Society of North America and the American Conifer Society.
IF GARDENS TEACH US the language of growth and generosity, then Paulsen’s fluency is impressive, and she has a heart for cultivating connections. “I love being around people who share my passion,” she says. Connecting people to horticultural organizations, events and fellow gardeners — Paulsen thinks of it as “cross-pollinating” — helps ensure a vibrant and thriving garden community.
Paulsen’s passion for visiting gardens in the Pacific Northwest, around the country and abroad is unbounded. “I find inspiration in every garden I visit, no matter the size or the style,” she says. “And I meet a lot of wonderful people along the way!”
She also enjoys sharing her exquisite garden with others. Most of her visitors are from the Puget Sound area, though quite a few come from farther afield. Whether it’s a local garden club, a Japanese maple enthusiast from North Carolina, a fern lover from Ireland, the horticulture staff of a botanical garden or a fledgling gardener in the neighborhood, Paulsen says she believes, “The joy of spending time in a garden together is universal.”
View the photos of Camille's garden taken by Seattle Times staff photographer Kevin Clark – kclark@seattletimes.com – on The Seattle Times website.
Lorene Edwards Forkner is the author of “Color In and Out of the Garden.” Find her at ahandmadegarden.com and at a handmade garden on Substack.
