Spring may delight us with color, but throughout the year we can appreciate other sensory elements in Washington Park Arboretum’s collections. Leaves and blooms can give off powerful aromas. Texture and plant shape can provide a sense of drama or reverie. Enjoy all your senses with these plant choices!
1)   Magnolia sieboldii                                                                     Oyama Magnolia

Egg-shaped in bud, the white nodding flowers have a crimson stamen and leaves behind a showy pink fruit. 

Looking Back on my AmeriCorps Service Term
Many of you have seen me running around the farm, managing volunteers, or maybe delivering produce to the UW Food Pantry. This was all due to my serving as an AmeriCorps member with the UW Farm. I began this full-time position in September 2021 and recently my term of service ended in June 2022. 

Purple kohlrabi is native to northern Europe and has been cultivated since ancient times. Kohlrabi is known as the “cabbage turnip” and is a popular vegetable in Hungary, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia.

It may not feel like it after such a rainy, cool spring, but the Solstice on June 21st marks the start of summer!  Although spring flowers are now behind us, plenty more have been blooming to welcome in the summer months.  Celebrate the beginning of summer at the Arboretum by viewing these seasonal favorites.
1)   Rosa rugosa  ‘Wasagaming’                                                  Wasagaming Rose

This rose is a hybrid with showy, cool pink blossoms appearing in early summer and a strong floral fragrance. 

At the beginning of May, Rare Care staff and volunteers along with Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff completed the first of two botanical surveys of the Marcellus Shrub Steppe Natural Area Preserve. The goals of this visit were to know what plants are there and re-find any previously documented rare plants. We also wanted to fill in knowledge gaps for shrub steppe species distribution and abundance that may contribute to designating a species for conservation status. 

The campus farm has welcomed CELE students whenever possible, regardless of their major, department, or year at UW. This year we welcomed 69 students from six classes, primarily from English and Environmental Studies courses.

A fantastic group of volunteers has recently spent weeks weeding blackberry and ivy out of a group of collections north of the bus turnaround and south of parking lot #4 along the easternmost trail near the Broadmoor fence. The volunteers spread many truckloads of mulch in the area to help suppress future weed growth. This post is dedicated to the Monday Volunteer Group and highlights some of the interesting plants in this area. 

As the Environmental Justice Intern for the Spring quarter, it was my goal to host an event to introduce people to the Farm and have them feel welcomed. The intended guests for this event were people of color, and specifically, registered student organizations focusing on marginalized identities. In recent history, outdoor spaces have been viewed, and statistically found, as white spaces. 

Imagine you walk deep into a woodland in Japan, the Hokkaido region, and along a rocky creek side you see these small clouds of nodding bell-shaped flowers. Hues of pink, maybe yellow, some with striations of red (hence it’s English common name, red-veined enkianthus).

1)   Corokia cotoneaster                                                            Wire-netting Bush

The common name of this species of Corokia aptly describes its wiry branches and tangled growth form.  In late spring, small, fragrant yellow flowers are produced singly or in clusters up to four.
Several specimens of this and the following selections are currently in bloom throughout the Pacific Connections New Zealand Garden.

2)   Phyllocladus alpinus                                                              Mountain toatoa

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