Locals can get their green thumbs going and learn some gardening tips from an expert at the next “Work to Learn” Party set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at the Sequim Botanical Garden at Carrie Blake Community Park, 350 N. Blake Ave.

Dahlia expert Lee Bowen has been growing dahlias for 44 years, exhibited dahlias at shows at the Evergreen County Fair and helped maintain a dahlia garden at Bellevue Botanical Garden for 13 years.

He has supplied the dahlias and maintained the dahlia garden at Sequim Botanical Garden for 11 years, and worked with students in the Sequim High School agriculture science class in growing dahlias from cuttings and seed.

Bowen returns on Nov. 3 when he will cover digging, dividing and storing dahlia tubers.

These “Work to Learn” Parties are an opportunity for novice and seasoned gardeners to volunteer together to cultivate what makes the community distinctive and flourishing. Attendees are encouraged to bring gardening gloves, tools, sunscreen and hats, and to mingle with other members of the community dedicated to growing the botanical garden.

The Sequim Botanical Garden Society is a volunteer partner with the City of Sequim and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides educational information and a visual demonstration of what can be done in home gardening with research-based horticultural practices.

For more information, contact the society president Dona Brock at brockdl88@gmail.com or 360-460-8865, and find SBGS on Facebook at fb.me/SequimBotanicalGarden. Or, visit SequimBotanicalGarden.org.