1)  Acer triflorum        Three Flower Maple

A small, slow-growing deciduous tree 20’ to 45’ where it is native in Manchuria and Korea.  An excellent landscape tree boasting light grey vertically-furrowed bark and vivid red and orange fall color.  The name refers to its flowers, which are borne in clusters of three.
Discovered by noted plant explorer, Ernest H. Wilson in 1917. 

The sun is shining, mosquitoes are buzzing, and blossoms are bursting open everywhere we look; it could just as easily be June in Seattle, but the calendar still tells us it’s winter no matter how incongruous that may seem. Students at the Fiddleheads Forest School are taking full advantage of the seasonal changes. The warm weather has meant that we are continuing to discover lots of mushrooms and fungus in and around the forest grove classroom. 

1)  Camellia japonica      ‘Nina Avery’

Due to this year’s mild winter thus far, many plants here have begun flowering much earlier than normal, and Camellias are certainly no exception. Many specimens can be seen in bloom along Arboretum Drive near Rhododendron Glen.

2)  Camellia x williamsii      ‘Mary Christian’

Soon after C. saluenensis began to flower it was crossed with C. japonica, notably by J. 

Donald Culross Peattie in the Washington Park Arboretum
Staff horticulturist, Ryan Garrison recently listened to an audio version of Donald Culross Peattie’s book, “A Natural History of North American Trees.” He very much enjoyed its mix of science and literary art, and would like to share a few gems about trees in the collection with you.
1)  Carya ovata – Shellbark or Scalybark Hickory
“To everyone with a feeling for things American, and for American history, the Shagbark seems like a symbol of the pioneer age, with its hard sinewy limbs and rude, shaggy coat, like the pioneer himself in fringed deerskin hunting shirt. 

Witt Winter Garden
1)  Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’         Bloodtwig Dogwood

Young stems of this cultivar are orange-yellow with the sunny side turning carmine red.
Stem color of species is gray to purple, while the color of C.s. ‘Midwinter Fire’ is yellow-green in summer changing to winter colors rapidly at leaf drop in fall.

2)  Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida’             Witch Hazel

This hybrid of H. 

“Piercing, sucking and galling!”

1)  Mites (on Sasa Bamboo and Skimmia)

Stippling and yellowing of leaves are often indicative of the presence of mites.
Feed by piercing underside of leaves and sucking chlorophyll out decreasing photosynthesis, reducing plant vigor and compromising the appearance.
Mites are not insects; they are arachnids.

2)  Galls (on Willow and Rose)

Abnormal plant growths caused by various organisms (insects, mites, fungi, etc.)
Galls are formed by increased production of normal plant hormones as response to feeding, egg-laying or disease infiltration and are often not harmful to the plant. 

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.'”

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. 

Reflections on the essence of Fiddleheads and experiential, nature-based learning.