This spring quarter wrapped up a wonderful season of restoration events in the Union Bay Natural Area, with fantastic progress being made on several projects.  Tallying 177 individual visits in the spring quarter, students and community members collectively donated over 400 hours of their time to the restoration efforts being made in UBNA!
The northern end of Yesler Swamp saw a major improvement with the removal of a large monoculture of Himalayan blackberry.  

Rhododendron ‘Firefly’     Grid 16-B
Rhododendron japonicum Grid 40-1E
Rhododendron ‘Knap Hill Apricot’     Grid 39-B
Rhododendron occidentale (Pink Form)     Grid 37-1W
Rhododendron ‘Sandpiper’     Grid 37-B

Complete details. 

“It’s really happening!” shouted the small, yet ecstatic, gathering of Farm Partnership* members, as they watched the plow turn the first soil over in the Center for Urban Horticulture’s northwest field. Farm manager, Robert Servine, knows this is just the first step of many to come before the .75 acre farm will be in full production. It’s certainly a major tangible step after months of planning with UW Botanic Gardens and UW campus grounds management, as well as between the 2 Farm Partnership organizations, to get this exciting urban farm project launched. 

Marilyn Smith Layton has created a book of images called Seasons of Life in the Union Bay Natural Area, and she is donating the profits from the sale of the book to projects in UBNA. The cost of the book is $60, and $20 of that will go to help the natural area.
You may purchase a copy in the Miller Library (cash or check only). 

Malus x moerlandsii ‘Profusion’
Cornus nuttallii
Fothergilla major
Davidia involucrata
Abies alba

Complete details. 

UWBG arboretum horticulture staff are taking Tuesdays by storm!  The 6 member crew, along w/ the 2 recent temporary gardener hires, plus Tuesday volunteers are now making an immediate impact on improving plant collections care and general garden aesthetics. For example, this past Tuesday, there were 10 busy bees working in the Sorbus (Mountain Ash) collection, weeding and mulching. Check out the finished product (photos). 

One of the most widespread problems with trees in the urban environment is the failure to recognize the tree’s mature size.  If one doesn’t take into account the space required when the tree grows up, conflicts are sure to arise.  To make matters worse, the tree is often faulted for encroachment!
Several trees surrounding the Arboretum’s Boyer Parking Lot have grown up and encroached on the gravel parking spaces.  

hanging baskets lined up in greenhouse

Students in Jessica Torvik’s Horticulture/Ecology classes meet in the Nathan Hale High School greenhouse on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.   The new site for horticulture classes is a few minutes’ walk from the main school building,
across the street and up the hill.  As they arrive, the students take the initiative to begin doing tasks assigned to
them in their working groups.    

Charitable plant sales take place all over the Northwest every year and this cold wet spring is no exception. Take a look at our plant sale calendar, then go out and buy a few plants for a good cause.

Condos at CUH by Constance Sidles
 Yesterday the UW Botanic Gardens staff installed some new condominiums west of the greenhouses near the Center for Urban Horticulture. Oh, not for people, but for purple martins.Purple martins, you see, are our largest swallows, and they have been in decline for a long time. They nest in holes, and they like to live together in a colony.