A Growing Force of Nature
Woodinville’s storied Molbak’s Garden + Home will ground the city’s new business and residential district.
In 1956, a nursery man from Denmark, purchased several acres in Woodinville, then a rural community surrounded by farmland. Beginning with five existing glass greenhouses filled with nursery stock for the production of chrysanthemums and carnations, Egon Molbak and his wife Laina grew their family business into one of the Pacific Northwest’s most beloved horticultural destinations.
Beginning in the 1970s, the retail nursery expanded to include comforts and furnishings for indoors as well as out and became Molbak’s Garden + Home, a popular destination with something for everyone. The first Pointsettia Festival was held in 1975 and quickly became a dazzling seasonal celebration attracting visitors from throughout the West.
Molbak’s was there at the birth of the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in 1989 and for years produced ambitious display gardens, many designed by renowned Seattle-based landscape architect Robert Chittock. The wildly imaginative gardens attracted throngs of visitors. Executed in plants and artistry, Molbak’s gave us magic in the middle of winter.
Jens, son of Egon and Laina, took over Molbak’s in 2002 and helped navigate the family business through a challenging economic period. Molbak’s prevailed to become an even more valuable regional resource. On-site workshops, landscape design services, as well as seasonal festivals cultivated a loyal community and attracted out of town visitors who came to shop all the best annuals, a remarkable selection of indoor plants, as well as landscape plants and garden goods.
Now Molbak’s is growing again with the development of the Woodinville Gardens District, an all-new business and residential hub with gardens—and Molbak’s—at its heart. Molbak’s CEO Julie Kouhia says, “We’re focused on remaining true to our roots, while also evolving and moving forward with the world around us.”
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