1)  Castanea dentata                          American Chestnut

The American Chestnut, once an important and substantial member of the East Coast hardwood forests, is now all but extinct in the wild due to the chestnut blight that likely arrived from Japan in the 1890s.
Chestnuts are sweet and edible, though hidden inside a prickly burr.
Blight resistant cultivars are still being developed in order to bring back this majestic tree. 

1)  Rubus armeniacus, Himalayan blackberry

This notorious invasive species was introduced to Washington in the late 1800s for its delicious and prolific berries.
It is often found in disturbed areas and has adapted to wet, dry, sunny, and shady conditions.

2)  Rubus leucodermis, blackcap raspberry

This species, native to the West Coast, is known for the dusty white/blue coating on older stems and its arching habit. 

1)   Fuchsia magellanica

This is the hardiest of the fuchsia species, and the parent of most hardy fuchsia hybrids.
F. magellanica is native to Chile and Argentina and can reach ten feet in height in moist, frost-protected areas.
This and all featured fuchsias can be found in the Chilean Entry Garden, part of the Pacific Connections Gardens at the southern end of the Washington Park Arboretum. 

1)   Acer palmatum ‘Beni otake’                          “Big Red Bamboo”

This linearilobum type of Japanese maple has long, strap-like lobes to its leaves and an upright-layered form.
Fall color of this maple is deep crimson and can be seen next to parking lot 11 in the Woodland Garden.

2)   Acer palmatum ’Shigitatsu sawa’        “Snipes, quacking, flying up from a swamp”

This variegated Japanese maple of the Amoenum type has a pale yellow blade, divided by deep green veins with a pale pinkish blush at the lobe tips. 

1)   Amelanchier X spicata                          Serviceberry

This shrubby, multi-stemmed tree, native to United States and Canada, has an impressive spring display of white flowers.
We have lost a couple of our Amelanchier due to past winters; the remaining collections reside south of the Centennial Garden on Azalea Way.
Amelanchier are being planted more frequently in the urban environment for beauty and the value for wildlife. 

1)   Corylus maxima  ‘Atropurpurea Superba’                          Purple Leaf Filbert

This very large growing European filbert shrub is festooned with catkins before the purple leaves form, giving an impression of a pendulous curtain of 3-inch mauve spikes.
Its size can be controlled by thinning out the oldest stems in spring.
This cutting is from a mature specimen located at the service entrance to the Broadmoor Golf Course. 

1)   Camellia japonica  ‘Willmeta’

This light pink Camellia is reminiscent of an apple blossom.
Will and Meta Jensen brought this cultivar with them as a seedling from Holland and the specific epithet is a combination of their first names.

2)   Camellia japonica  ‘Amabilis’

This white Camellia has impressively large single blossoms.
‘Amabilis’ is a French cultivar originating in Nantes in the 1820s. 

Here’s a sampling of some of the Arboretum trees that sustained some damage from the recent snow. Luckily most of the cuttings were taking from plants that will survive!

The record cold temperatures and snow that fell in Washington Park Arboretum between Feb 3 and Feb 11 will be one for the record books when it comes to accounting for all the plant collections damage and total losses.

1)  Rhododendron arboretum hybrid

This Rhododendron, located in the Joseph A. Witt Winter Garden, dutifully produces its blooms of bright rose in the dark of winter.
The UW Botanic Gardens’ database has records of it blooming in December, January, and February.

2)  Rhododendron floribundum

Native to the southern central area of China, and was first described by Adrien René Franchet.
Franchet was a French botanist who was noted for his extensive work describing the flora of China and Japan, based on the collections made by French Catholic missionaries in China – Armand David, Pierre Jean Marie Delavay, Paul Guillaume Farges, Jean-André Soulié, and others.