Busy gardeners appreciate the early spring flowers and minimal care required of evergreen perennials such as epimediums and hellebores. They don’t need dividing or staking or fertilizing, they just do their thing without much gardener intervention. Yet a little attention in late winter will improve the appearance and show off newly emerging flowers.
Roy Farrow, one of the UW Botanic Gardens horticulturists, attends to enormous swaths of epimedium and hellebore in the Washington Park Arboretum’s Witt Winter Garden. 

By John A. Wott, Director Emeritus. Recently I was given a copy of the Arboretum Bulletin, Volume VIII , no. 4, Winter 1945, by Lyn Sauter, who was the first librarian for the collection of books that became the Miller Library.

During our November potluck, Josh Furman demonstrated how to make all sorts of delicious things with squash, because, well, it’s that time of year. Here are his recipes, as promised:
Roasted Winter Squash Salad

2-3 winter squash sliced
1 onion sliced into wedges
1/2 tablespoon sumac and 1/2 tablespoon nigella seeds (optional)
2 tablespoons sliced almonds or other crushed nuts such as pistachios. 

An historic document connected to the early “life” of the Washington Park Arboretum has been found. It is the (believed) first design for the Arboretum, prepared in 1934 by Frederick Leissler, landscape architect in the Seattle Department of Parks.

UW Botanic Gardens Horticulturist Neal Bonham has been gardening at the Washington Park Arboretum for years. When asked if he had any rules for home gardeners for optimal tool use he grew philosophical, “I’m reminded of the anecdote of someone asking a Taoist butcher how often he sharpened his knife. He answered ‘I never sharpen it. I only cut between the joints.'”

The Fragrance Garden at the Center for Urban Horticulture is being refreshed with help from partner the Seattle Garden Club. The declining stripe bark maple will be removed and new scented plants will be added.
Manager of Horticulture David Zuckerman said the Acer capillipes has been declining for years. David explained: “it may have verticillium wilt, but more likely to be causing the decline are symptoms of over exposure (sun, temps) during the course of its life in the entry garden. 

1)    Araucaria araucana      (Monkey Puzzle)

Native to Chile, no other conifer quite like it!
Seeds are used to make an alcoholic ceremonial drink called mudai.

2)   Picea glauca      (White Spruce)

Native to northern temperate forests of North America.
Captain Cook made a spruce beer, possibly curing his crew from scurvy.

3)   Pinus cembra      (Swiss Stone Pine)

Native to Alps of Central Europe. 

This piece was written by Kate Doughty, junior, as a reflection on her involvement with the UW Farm.
Growing Food and Farmers

The UW Farm program grows many vegetables—over 6 tons were produced this season—but more importantly it grows farmers. Yes, I’ve learned a lot about plants and growing food—the difference between an allium and a brassica, hypogeal and epigeal germination, what the ratio of carbon to nitrogen should be in a functional compost heap. 

 
1)    Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii  ‘Profusion’  (Beautyberry)

Native to western China.
Ornamental purple berries on display in autumn months.
Specimen located north of the Wilcox Bridge by the parking lot.

 
2)    Gaultheria mucronata    ‘Rubra’

Native to southern Chile.
Formerly known as Pernettya, this particular variety has carmine pink berries.
Specimen is located in the Chilean Gateway Garden.

3)   Grevillea victoriae    ‘Marshall Olbricht’

Native to Australia. 

By Audrey Wennblom
At long last, the Arboretum Loop Trail (ALT) appears to be just a few months away from the start of construction. “Right now, it looks like the tentative start date would be late spring 2015,” said Raymond J. Larson, Curator of Living Collections for the UW Botanic Gardens. “The idea is to start after most of the rain has passed and to do construction over the drier months.’’
Depending on the the bids received, Larson said the project may be done in two phases.