Norwegian immigrant Charles Malmo (1862-1938) established the Malmo Seed and Nursery Company in Seattle in 1893. Malmo propagated nursery stock of ornamental shrubs, which previously had to be imported from Japan, Holland, and England. In the 1920s, Malmo sold seeds and nursery stock from a store at 6th Avenue and Stewart Street at Westlake, and at his Georgetown rhododendron fields and greenhouses. Malmo opened a full-service garden center at Westlake and 6th in 1930, with gardens at ground as well as roof levels in addition to his 25 acres of greenhouses and fields in Georgetown. In 1937, Charles Malmo’s son Clark purchased 30 acres of land on 25th Avenue near 47th Street (the site of present-day University Village), where the family business flourished until it was purchased in 1962 by Ernst Hardware and Pay ’n’ Save stores .
This image shows the Malmo & Co. full-service garden center at Westlake and 6th.
Caption information source: "Puget Sound Gardening with Charles Malmo," by Lorraine McConaghy, Ph.D., HistoryLink.org Essay 8161
ID Number: 2000.107.176.33.02
Date: Circa 1931
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 7.75 x 9.75 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant.
