Although Dr. John A. Wott, retired Professor Emeritus, Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington and former Washington Park Arboretum Director, recently passed at the age of 82, his work and his plants continue on at the Arboretum. His garden was full of rare, unusual, and fascinating plants and these are a few of the plants that were donated to the Arboretum by Dr. 

Happy October! As Halloween and spooky season approaches, the best way to celebrate is to visit the Washington Park Arboretum and check out our sassafras. These trees are quite festive as they display leaves shaped like little ghosts (or mittens depending on your viewing angle)! Leaves can have a different number of lobes ranging from 1-3 on the same plant.
This deciduous tree displays vivid colors of fall foliage in yellow, orange, red, and pink. 

Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The UW Botanic Gardens celebrate and honor the original stewards of this land.

1)         Cotinus obovatus                                                           American Smoketree

One of the earliest and most stunning of fall color plants, the leaves of Cotinus obovatus become a palette of orange, purple and crimson.
One specimen can be seen along Arboretum Drive, just south of the Graham Visitor Center.  Another specimen that is already in full glory is located on Azalea Way near the southern intersection of the Arboretum Loop Trail. 

By Maya Kahn-Abrams
Over the past five months I have been immensely privileged to work on several of Rare Care’s projects restoring our beloved native rare plants all over Washington state. From hot July afternoons helping map shimmering meadows of pink Wenatchee Mountains checkermallow (Sidalcea oregana var calva) and purple Wenatchee larkspur (Delphinium viridenscens), to epic early mornings counting baby seedlings of White Bluffs bladderpod (Physaria douglasii ssp. 

By Paul Slichter
Local botanists have long recognized several patches of an odd camas growing above the Klickitat River. They didn’t quite match the Suksdorf’s camas (Camassia leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii) or common camas (both C. quamash ssp. breviflora and ssp. quamash) which are the local camas in the area.
Fortunately, Susan Kephart, a specialist in camas taxonomy, was invited to look at the unusual camas by local plant enthusiast, Barbara Robinson. 

1)   Schefflera delavayi                                                                 Delavay’s Schefflera

Unlike the Schefflera houseplant that may seem familiar to some, this interesting character is cold hardy and grows exceptionally well in outdoor Pacific Northwest settings.
Bold evergreen leaves form an umbrella-like canopy. As the new leaves slowly develop, they are covered in tan indumentum, but eventually become a beautiful dark green.
Pale yellow flower spikes reaching upwards of three feet emerge in early autumn for a unique display. 

“This trial is significant as it really does put data to the observations–not just qualitatively, but quantitatively–about how plants are performing,” says Ray Larson, Curator of Living Collections at UWBG.

Community members share their memories of Director Emeritus John Wott.

Around The Farm
For the third year, the UW Farm is hosting an AmeriCorps volunteer, a full-time 10-month position to help the Farm Manager with production, education and assists with all aspects of running an urban, campus farm,  This is a unique opportunity for the volunteer who learns all aspects of an urban farm. In return AmeriCorps members act as mentors, lead programs and support the Farm Manager
AmeriCorps is a federal program that lists positions across the nation, “connecting individuals and organizations to tackle the nation’s most pressing challenges.” AmeriCorps is a federal agency that funds organizations to make positive impact in communities.