History: Elda Behm
Paradise Garden | Elda Behm | Highline Area
Elda Behm
(1913-2008) was born in Spokane, WA, and attended grade school in Malaga, a
small farming community near Rock Island Dam, south of Wenatchee. She attended
High School in Wenatchee, and was a leader of the 4-H program in horticulture
and flower arranging. Elda met her future husband Ray Behm In 1935 at a dance in
Moses Lake, and they were married on September 12, 1937. Elda and Ray had three
children.
Another Blue-Ribbon Winner
After taking classes in Wenatchee, Elda passed the Washington State Council exam in Landscape Design, Horticulture, and Flower Arranging in 1953. Ray worked for the Corps of Engineers from 1936 to 1954, contributing to the design of Grand Coulee Dam and the vast network of canals and reservoirs that bring water to the deserts of Eastern Washington. Ray's new job with Boeing's space program took the family to Puget Sound in 1954, when Ray and Elda moved to property near 5 Corners in Burien. In 1965 the Behms moved to 9th Avenue South, where Elda built her "Paradise Garden".
Elda with Highline High students, 2001
Elda was a lecturer for many years, and a judge in plant combinations and general gardening for the Washington State Snoqualmie District Federation of Garden Clubs. She has been a lifetime member of the Des Moines Garden Club and the Weekly Weeders Garden Club, and was named Gardener of the Year by the Snoqualmie District Federation in 1970. She has been a past member of the National Horticulture Society, the Puget Sound Daylily Club, the Rhododendron Society, and the Royal Horticultural Society. She has won more Blue Ribbons than she can recall.
Elda, Spring 2005
Elda's garden, along with dozens of other properties, was purchased by the Port of Seattle in the late 1990's because it was in the way of the Port's proposed 3rd runway project. Burien City Councilman Stephen Lamphear led an effort to save the garden, and in the Winter of 2000 dozens of volunteers, the City of SeaTac, and the Port of Seattle relocated the garden to its new site at the Highline Botanical Garden.
