Ed Hume

Ed Hume’s record-breaking television program, Gardening in America, may have broadcast its final episode a couple of years ago, but it remains the longest continuously running gardening show in North America and possibly the world.

The show ran for 52 years and was watched in up to 50 million households across the country and Japan. The segments can still be seen on YouTube and Facebook.

How did this humble, mild-mannered Northwest native become a gardening legend known across the globe?

Ed was the youngest of six children. He is shown here with his father, who introduced him to gardening.

The youngest of six children, Ed Hume was born in 1931 in the north end of Seattle. “We lived kind of between the Bryant area and Hawthorne Hills, down in the gully there,” says Ed.

Growing up during the Depression and WWII years, Ed was involved with gardening from a very young age.

“Dad leased some property at Sand Point during the war. We grew corn and beans, especially corn. When late summer came, we sold the produce to defense workers.” As Ed recalls, his father was interested in protecting the properties for the Japanese owners who were taken away to internment camps following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. The gardens were tended primarily by Ed and one of his sisters, along with his hardworking father, who also had a fulltime job.

That experience in the family garden made Ed well-versed in vegetable-growing, but “As a child, I was very interested in gardening primarily from the standpoint of flowers. Then, during the summers when I was in high school, I started working at University Flowers and Bulbs.” The owner, a teacher at Lincoln High School, didn’t hold it against Ed that he attended Roosevelt, Lincoln’s rival!

In 1950, Ed went to work at Malmo Nursery. “Clark and Jean Malmo owned 35 acres of what is now University Village. I worked for them for two years until I was offered a management position at Wight’s Nursery,” he said.

Ed was drafted during the Korean conflict and served in the army for two years followed by time in the reserves. “President Eisenhower put all of us on to serve an additional four to six years.”

Wight’s saved his job while he was in the army. Upon his return, he continued working at the Lynnwood location while serving in the Army Reserve unit in Everett.

“That’s when I met Myrna,” says Ed about his wife of 61 years. “Her sister was married to another reservist. We were at the Yakima Firing Center, and Myrna’s sister wanted to visit her husband during summer training. Myrna, who was just out of high school, accompanied her sister. So you could say we had a blind date,” reveals Ed.

Given his love of flowers, it makes sense that Ed wooed Myrna in part with blossoms. “One time I gave her a potted African violet and she really appreciated that. When young men give women candy or cut flowers they don’t last long, but the African violet lived on.” Ed has said one of his proudest moments was when he asked Myrna to marry him and she said yes.

Ed and Myrna Hume have been married for 61 years

The couple married at Lynnwood’s Lake Serene. Within two years they started their family (two boys—Jeffery and James) and then bought a house in Edmonds.

Because Ed was manager at Wights, he was often invited to make appearances on local television shows, like Bea Donavan’s, Margaret the Merry Gardener and Gardener’s Guide with Paul Brown. “Paul was assistant director at the Seattle arboretum,” says Ed. “In 1965, he was diagnosed with cancer and since I had appeared so many times on the show, Paul asked me to take over the program.” Ed’s record-shattering run in television had begun.

“I started at KIRO, but in the ‘70s moved to KING. This was during the gas shortage. I was doing TV shows in Seattle and Portland, so we moved south to Lakewood to save on gas.”

Ed in Olympia with Governor Jay Inslee and two of the three grandchildren, Kelsea and Alex Hume, who help run the seed company. Ed Hume’s career has been quite the family affair. The family’s company is now owned by his oldest son and three of his grandchildren. The family was also involved in producing his long-running television program.

Ed’s work on television became a family affair when, in 1988, Ed and his family started producing the program themselves. The same can be said of Ed Hume Seeds, the family-owned company that started in 1977.

“We were concerned about some of the varieties of plants that were highly recommended for this area but were not available in seeds—you couldn’t find them in the racks,” remembers Ed. “One of them was Early Girl, a popular tomato… We thought, that’s not really fair.” At the same time, the family was looking to boost their income. “We needed to make more money and we came up with the idea of producing the seeds that people wanted.”

The company, Ed Hume Seeds, which offers seeds for short seasons and cool climates, is over 40 years old. “Jeff, our oldest son, now owns the company, along with three of our grandchildren,” says Ed proudly. The company started in Kent but moved operations to the South Hill area of Puyallup when the family had an opportunity to purchase property there.

“Myrna and I live about five or ten minutes away. When we moved the seed company from Kent to Puyallup and the rest of the family all lived south of us, Myrna said, ‘I’ll never see the kids,’ so we moved, too.” Three times a week, Ed leads free tours of his gardens—located on the same property as the seed company headquarters.

In addition to the gardening show, readers may remember the Humes’ popular Christmas segment, Deck the Halls. “It was during Boeing’s downturn and people were struggling. There was a sign on Highway 99 that said, ‘Will the last person leaving Seattle turn out the lights.’ Myrna, who is very creative, came up with the idea of a program on how to make Christmas gifts and decorations with items around the house. The program ran for 10 years and was so popular that we were receiving about 35 to 40,000 requests for the information. But Myrna finally pulled the plug, saying ‘I’m not really a television person.’ “

Gardening has offered the Humes so many different opportunities. In addition to television, Ed had a weekly call-in radio show, has written for numerous local, regional and national publications, penned several books including his latest—Gardening with Ed Hume, created a seed company, became a well-known international speaker and traveled the world – all stemming from his love of gardening.

“For 35 years we took Northwesterners on tours to about 80 different countries, including visiting famous gardens around the world,” says Ed. “One of the outstanding gardens here in the U.S. is Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.” While Ed and Myrna have stopped leading world tours, they still enjoy traveling, especially to the Hawaiian Islands. “One grandson lives in Japan and we meet him half-way between in Hawaii.”

Ed is proud that he was invited to the White House gardens (twice!) and taped segments of his shows at many notable locations. Ed was a member of the very first Master Gardeners class more than 50 years ago. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including induction into the Garden Writers Association Hall of Fame, receiving the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle award, and being recognized with the highest honor of the Washington Floricultural Association.

Ed Hume’s advice on growing older: “Remain as active as you possibly can. Don’t sit around watching TV all day. Get out and be as active in as many ways as possible.”

Wise words from the Northwest’s own Gardening Guru.

Ed Hume’s Gardens

Ed Hume’s educational gardens are available for tours

Ed Hume’s educational gardens were originally designed for children, but adults love to visit, too! Last month, a group from the Garden Writers of America traveled up the West Coast to take a tour with Ed.

The gardens include 14 different areas including a Topiary Display, a Japanese Garden, the “Hungry Garden” with vegetables for the food bank, a sensory garden for the blind filled with plants to smell, touch and taste, a garden that attracts birds and one for insects, a native herb garden, a Tunnel Garden covered with flowering vines, a maze garden, the puzzle garden with riddles included, and one they call the “crazy garden” – come visit to learn why!

“We also take visitors through the warehouse where we package the seeds,” explains Ed. “The packages are done on machines that date back to 1885. When we started looking for machines, the old ones were the most affordable. They are so reliable, and about 10 or 15 years ago, we bought the company that made them and now manufacture the machines at Ed Hume Seeds.” He adds, “All the parts in the machine are the same as they were in the 1880s, except for the addition of electricity. We package four million of our own brand, and another million for promotional purposes at universities, cities and companies all over the country.”

Ed Hume Seeds is over 40 years old and offers seeds for short seasons and cool climates, perfect for the Pacific Northwest

Since quality is a top concern of the company, Ed Hume Seeds offers only new, fresh seeds each year. Seeds left over at the end of the year are donated to over 30 third-world countries around the world. “The donation averages to about a million packages of seeds every year,” said Ed. They work with freight companies who donate their freight to cover costs. “It’s an effort on the part of many people to supply the product for free across the world,” says Ed.

How to Visit the Garden

• Ed Hume leads tours of his gardens three days a week, mid-May through mid-September. Tours are FREE and open to all.

• The gardens are located at 11504 58th Avenue East in the South Hill area of Puyallup.

• Group appointments are available Tuesdays and Thursdays.

• Or anyone can drop by at 10am Wednesdays – no appointment necessary

• For more information, call 1-800-383-4863 or visit www.humeseeds.com/edgarden.htm