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You cannot tell a book by its cover, but you can tell that the new La Conner Swinomish Library is topflight by viewing the ground outside its doors.

The perimeter of the building on the southwest corner of Sixth and Morris streets, recently enhanced by installation of a stunning story pole fashioned by master carver Kevin Paul and his son-in-law, Camas Logue, now has 300 native plants placed Thursday, July 21 by area master gardeners, including Weekly News photographer Nancy Crowell.

It was all part of a team effort enlisting volunteer community talent while trimming costs.

John Roozen of Washington Bulb Company and Nick Cecotti of Lefeber Turf Farm were soil donors for the landscape project, Jim Barborinas of Urban Forest Nursery donated vine maples and the Town of La Conner supplied mulch from its compost operations.

The eight-member master gardener group was coordinated by “Gardener-in-Chief” Dave Buchan, who prepped the area beforehand to determine plant spacing. Katrina Barber color-coded popsicle sticks placed in the ground to indicate where each of the different types of plants would be placed.

They planted huckleberries, sword ferns, salal and Oregon grapes, a species of evergreen shrubs of the Mahonia genus named after Bernard McMahon, a steward of the plant collections from the Lewis and Clark expedition of the early 19th century.

Many are due kudos for the library’s grand ground cover.

For instance, Buchan contacted retired biologist Brenda Cunningham, manager of a native plant display garden for the Salal chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society, for the right mix of plants at the best possible price.

“She was very helpful,” said Buchan. “Thanks to her, we had great pricing, better than wholesale.”

Having superb material to work with, the master gardeners unleashed their magic.

Crowell cited the mission of Skagit County Master Gardeners, as striving to inform the public on the most up-to-date research-based gardening procedures and practices in partnership with the Washington State University Extension program.

She said master gardener certification follows successful completion of coursework and extensive volunteer work. The results are seen daily at the Discovery Garden at WSU’s Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center in Mount Vernon.

“The master gardeners program started at WSU,” she said.

It launched in the early 70s and today every state in the country has embraced WSU’s concept of making highly trained master gardeners available.

The La Conner Swinomish Library landscape is thus quite literally in good hands.

“It’s amazing what’s happening here. Libraries evoke wonderful memories for so many people,” said La Conner Library Foundation Director Susan Macek.

The library will likely have a soft opening in September. A grand opening ceremony is anticipated later in the fall once interior furnishings are received.

The new landscape promises to make a lasting impression of its own.

“It looks wonderful,” said longtime resident Gretchen McCauley. “It’s great of everyone to do this.”