Today it is difficult to find much open space when you walk about the Washington Park Arboretum. Often you have trouble seeing the sky. More than 60 years ago the canopy was open in Rhododendron Glen.

The winter blooming shrubs Hamamelis, or Witch Hazels, are currently at peak bloom sending out their lovely aroma and luring visitors into The Witt Winter Garden. This plant and other winter bloomers will be featured during the month of February on our Sunday Free Weekend Walks.
This large shrub or small tree is native to North America, Europe and Asia and features the species Hamamelis virginiana, H. 

There is much to look forward to in 2014 for the University of Washington Botanic Gardens (UWBG) horticulture and plant records staff. It will be a rare year of “normality” between capital project implementations, the completed 2013 Pacific Connections Gardens (PCG) New Zealand (NZ) forest exhibit and the looming 2015 multi-use trail. Our resources will be focused on smaller scale deferred maintenance projects of several gardens and plant collections, catching up with plant labeling and mapping of our Pacific Connections Gardens and embarking on a few recently awarded grants. 

Witt Winter Garden
1)  Calluna vulgaris ‘Robert Chapman’            Heather, Ling

This monotypic genus is native from northwestern Europe, through Siberia and Turkey, all the way to Morocco and the Azores.
The species has over 500 cultivars – some noted for spectacular flower displays in summer, while others display fantastic foliage coloration in winter.
C.v. ‘Robert Chapman’ has golden foliage throughout summer, which turns red in winter and spring. 

My experience as a volunteer at the UW Arboretum…
It was the first quarter of my freshman year at the University of Washington. I was enrolled in an environmental studies class, and we, the students, were given an option between doing a book report and volunteering for “service learning.” Man, was I glad I chose to volunteer, because my time at the arboretum was great. 

Tucked away behind the Cedrus knoll in the Arboretum’s Pinetum is the Euonymus europaeus ‘atrorubens’. At this time of year it is showing off its colorful seed pods, which hang all over the defoliated branches. A plant that has pink and orange fruits really catches your eye when you pass by.
This shrub is native to Europe and Western Asia and its common names are Spindle Tree and Cat Tree. 

Yew, willow and witch hazel are just a few of the woody plants at the Arboretum with medically important characteristics.

Avoid cabin fever and explore the Arboretum this winter! Learn about dinosaurs, science, turtles and more in our all new winter Parent/Child Classes.

1)   Abies balsamea   (Balsam fir)

Pitch from almost every conifer is used to seal and protect wood.
“Canada Balsam” from the Balsam Fir is used to cement together the lens elements in optical equipment and to mount specimens for microscopy.
It is North America’s most popular Christmas tree, but only newly planted in the Arboretum in grid 42-4W.
Native to eastern North America

2)   Cedrus libani   (Cedar of Lebanon)

“Cedar oil” is distilled from several conifers, mostly not Cedrus, the “true cedar”. 

“Berry Best from Hollywood”
1)   Ilex aquifolium   ‘Ferox Argentea’   (Variegated Porcupine Holly)

This “Punk” star is a sterile male with spiny leaves, but obviously no berries.
But this means it doesn’t contribute to English holly’s invasiveness in the Pacific Northwest.
Old cultivar in England, first reported in 1662 (Galle).
Specimen is located in the Eurasian clade (family), W. berm, of the Ilex Collection.