The Orcas Montessori community is selling summer-blooming bulbs until April 21 to “grow” its Orchard General Fund. The General Fund assists the board in maintaining the building, supporting the teachers, and enhancing the pre-school program.

“As education faces increasingly deep cuts in this time of economic challenge, all of us who care about educating our Orcas children are scrambling to find creative ways to do it.  The Montessori Board would like you to consider gardens and flowers,” organizers say.

With the generous help of The van Bourgondien Bulb Company, the school is offering a selection of thirteen different bulbs for summer gardens.

“Consider lilies or gladiolus. Enjoy dahlias or lily-of-the-valley,” organizers say. “The company is old and reliable and the prices are truly a bargain. You will help Orcas pre-school education and also help plant flowers on the Island.” Forty pink fairy lilies are on sale for $10, or 15 mixed gladiolus for $10. Montessori keeps 50 percent of the purchase price through a special fund-raising offer for non-profit organizations. All orders are $10, except for a $25 strawberry garden.

A brochure picturing the flowers and the number of bulbs in one order may be found on the Montessori Web site: www.orcasmontessori.org/bulbs. Payment can be made through Paypal or by calling school director Teresa Chocano at 376-5350. You can also find a bulb catalog with order envelopes in a basket on the porch at Orcas Montessori School, or contact a school parent or board member who will take your order.

The closing date for orders is April 21. About May 15 your order will be ready for you at the Orcas Montessori School, 1147 North Beach Rd, Eastsound. We will call you to come pick it up. The Board and all the children thank you in advance for supporting pre-school education on Orcas Island and for planting more flowers.