What’s at the root of a growing rift between an iconic Woodinville garden shop and the downtown...

With the poinsettia tree up, and shoppers bustling through the store looking for the perfect gift — it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Molbak's Garden and Home in Woodinville.

Over the last six decades, the store has grown into a go-to destination, bringing plant lovers together. When founders Egon and Laina Molbak opened their production greenhouse in 1956, Woodinville was just a rural, unincorporated part of King County.

In time, a city sprung up around the garden center, says Molbak's CEO, Julia Kouhia.

"It's not because we put a garden center in the middle of Woodinville, it's that a whole town grew around us," Kouhia said. "And I think one of the biggest challenges now for independent garden centers is being able to stay close to that urban center."

As KUOW reported earlier this week, Molbak's has been embroiled in a public PR war with the developer they had spent the last 15 years collaborating with on a plan to completely re-imagine downtown Woodinville.