No, aliens haven’t invaded the arboretum. The “straw tepees” (left), as Kyle Henegar, PCG gardener, aptly coins them, are to protect the newly planted Phormiums and other marginally hardy New Zealand plants make it through this cold spell that’s hit Seattle. It just wouldn’t seem fair to let these plants try to make it on their own since they were just planted late last summer and have yet to get their roots established. 

In the three years I’ve expected it to bite the dust, this plant has survived our winters and we’ve enjoyed the fruity scent from this form of Sweet Olive every autumn. Osmanthus fragrans is a popular shrub/small tree in the warmer regions of the United states (USDA Zone 8 +) and in China, where it is highly revered and its scented autumn blossoms are used to scent and flavor tea. 

It’s been a cold nippy November and we’re taking a little extra time to put on a few extra layers before heading outside to work. Temperatures are dropping and it’s really time to start thinking about winter. The plants are on their last legs and the last of the tremendous fall foliage we’ve been blessed with this autumn are carpeting our grounds and exposing an occasional clear blue sky above. 

But what is it about mushrooms that so captures our collective curiosity? It’s a difficult question to answer because the answer differs depending on who you ask.

Highlighting Plants in Mixed Shrub Border Below Maintenance Yard

Ligustrum delavayanum
Ligustrum ovalifolium ‘Argenteum’
Liquidambar acalycina
Morella californica (California wax myrtle)
Osmanthus fragrans (Sweet Olive)

Complete details. 

Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ – Feather Reed Grass
Chrysanthemum ‘Apricot’ – Apricot Chrysanthemum
Ageratum altissimum (Eupatorium rugosum) ‘Chocolate’
Perovskia atriplicifolia – Russian Sage
Sedum telephium ‘Autumn Joy’ – Autumn Joy Sedum

Complete details. 

Arbutus unedo ‘Compacta’ (Compact Strawberry Tree)
Camellia japonica (Common Camellia)
Ilex verticillata ‘Winter Red’ (Winterberry)
Illicium henryi (Henry Anise Tree)
Mespilus germanica (Medlar)

Complete details. 

“Uno, dos, tres, cut!” cried Paige Miller, the Arboretum Foundation’s executive director. Armed with garden shears, dignitaries clipped the bamboo ribbon, officially opening the Gateway to Chile in Washington Park Arboretum’s Pacific Connections Garden. Bathed in sunshine, and on the heels of the Chilean miners’ safe return above ground, the Oct. 17 Gateway to Chile celebration was triply joyous. Watch a 2 1/4-minute video. 

The mere thought of actually writing a blog entry w/ pen & paper started to make my hand cramp up. Granted, I have all the signs of early on-set arthritis from years spent farming & gardening for a living (using mostly hand-tools), but even still, this anxiety over the written word is pathetic! And I’ve only been typing on a keyboard consistently since college, about 10 years. 

Symphyotrichum (Aster) lateriflorum ‘Prince’

A regular visitor to the garden recommended that I make sure that I profile a plant that would stop people on their tracks when they walk by it and for October of this year, I’ve selected a dashingly handsome Aster, or now properly known as Symphyotrichum lateriflorum ‘Prince’ thriving happily in Bed 8. After years of sulking in the same bed; but overtaken by other plants, I finally moved it where it would receive full sun and less competition and, oh boy, did it take off!