“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! 

Classes in UW are in full swing as is the fall landscape at UWBG. Color is just beginning to show on our deciduous trees and the fall-blooming perennials are slowly waiting in the wings to burst into flight and glorious bloom here at CUH. After a inconsistent and late summer, fall seems to be right on queue as the weather slowly cools and our usual autumn tasks are well underway: fertilizing the lawn, planting and transplanting, monotonous raking and gathering of fallen leaves in either cold wet or windy weather, and one of my more favorite task is evaluating the year’s successes and failures in order to plan for next season. 

Our horticulture staff will begin pruning our cherry collection, mostly along Azalea Way, next week. October is our window to prune based on the life-cycle of the insect pest, Cherry Bark Tortrix -it’s not flying around seeking easy entry portals like fresh pruning wounds now. Most of our pruning focuses on  large dead branches, as well as, unwanted basal suckers below graft unions. 

Araucaria araucana
Blechnum chilense
Crinodendron hookeranum
Fuchsia magellanica ‘Versicolor’
Lobelia tupa

Complete details. 

Who knows, maybe one of those kids will go on to invent the trash-powered DeLorean from Back to the Future, and may be he/she will remember that fieldtrip they took in 5th grade and decide to donate a bunch to the Arboretum to replace the golf carts…one can only dream.

This past spring, the UWBG hosted the first ever bioblitz in Seattle.  A “bioblitz” is a biological scavenger hunt that aims to inventory all the various organisms living in a given area – the “blitz” part signifies that this inventory is taken within a short period of time.
There are several reasons why the UWBG aims to make bioblitzes a regularly occurring tradition:

to better fulfill our mission of sustaining managed to natural ecosystems
to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity in an urban environment
to bridge the gap between the academic world and the every-day world by harnessing the power of citizen scientists. 

Between August 2009 and August 2010 the Union Bay Natural Area chalked up 2,050 volunteer service and educational tour hours from student organizations, University of Washington dorm residents, local community groups, the UBNA service corps, and University of Washington courses.  There are numerous opportunities to get involved with the UBNA this academic year through the courses offered as a part of the Restoration Ecology Network, the Society for Ecological Restoration student guild. 

Vitex agnus-castus – Chaste Tree
Sorbus pallescens – Mountain Ash
Coreopsis Big Bang™  ‘Full Moon’ – Full Moon Tickseed
Eupatorium cannabinum – Joe-Pye Weed/Hemp Agrimony
Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’ – Northwind Switchgrass

Complete details.