1) Eucalyptus pauciflora ssp. niphophila    (Alpine Snow Gum)

Known for distinct blue-green foliage
Slower growing than other Eucalyptus species
Located north of the Pacific Connections Garden, east of the Lookout parking lot

2) Lithocarpus densiflorus    (Tanbark Oak)

Native to California and southern Oregon, easily grown in Seattle
Highly susceptible to Sudden Oak Death
Found north of Rhododendron Glen

3) Maytenus boaria    (Mayten Tree)

Known for fine textured foliage
Native to Chile
Located near Rhododendron Glen and the Camellias

4) Quercus suber    (Cork Oak)

Corky bark harvested for wine corks and dartboards
Native to Spain and Portugal
Found near along Arboretum Drive near the Giant Sequoias

5) Sycopsis sinensis    (Chinese Fighazel)

A relative of the witch hazel
Extremely rare in Seattle
Located near Pacific Connections Australia Entry Garden 

Holbrook has planned a wonderful trip for us. We will be visiting botanic gardens, meeting their staff and scientists and consulting with some of the urban farmers in Havana to learn how they make the most of every square inch they farm.

The Washington Park Arboretum is full of quiet nooks, unusual plants, and hidden groves where our imagination can run free and our curiosity is hooked. Bring your family and come find this special spot!

One of the many engaging courses offered to the undergraduate and graduate students at the Center for Urban Horticulture is the Restoration Capstone Sequence. In this course, students of different academic backgrounds work together to complete a local ecological restoration project. Students plan, design, install, and monitor a restoration project while working in teams over the course of eight months, beginning in fall of each year. 

This cultivar simply lights up in winter as it flowers on a warm day and the delicious scent of warm sugary vanilla and lilac wafts in the air.

I had the pleasure of attending the NW Flower & Garden Show Preview Gala last night, hosted by the Arboretum Foundation in partnership with Seattle Audubon. It was a good time and I was given the honor or saying a few words to drum up donor support for the UWBG Education & Outreach Program here at the Arb. One of the questions that Dick, the emcee, fired my way had to do with the value of getting kids outside into places like the WPA. 

1) Arbutus menziesii    (Pacific Madrone)

Found throughout the west coast of North America.
The bark is a rich orange that peels away on mature wood. Mature trees provide nesting cavities for birds.
Many birds feed on the berries including American Robins, Cedar Waxwings and Varied Thrush.

2) Corylus maxima   ‘Atropurpurea Superba’

The purple leaf filbert is known for its beautiful burgundy foliage and festive catkins. 

The future health outlook bodes well for what many consider to be our finest native conifer in the PNW, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, Port Orford cedar and its many cultivars.   Port Orford cedars have been under seige for many years from its worst enemy Phytophtora lateralis, a soil-borne pathogen that is especially virulent in wet soils, and essentially spells a death-sentence to this majestic tree once its roots are infected. 

Along with the constant rain and drizzle, winter in the Pacific Northwest often brings the occasional wind and snow events.  Damage to trees (and caused by trees!) is inevitable following these storms.  While wind events tend to cause the most spectacular tree failures, snow loads have been known to fell their fair share of limbs.  Damage to Arboretum trees has been lower than expected during the course of the most recent snow; however, our evergreen oak collection in Rhododendron Glen took a severe hit. 

Selected cuttings from the Washington Park Arboretum (January 17 – 31, 2012)

1)  Camellia sasanqua    ’Shichi Fukujin’

An upright to spreading shrub or small tree with elliptical, dark green leaves and bearing single cup-shaped flowers, C. sasanqua is one of many camellia species native to Japan.
Known to flower early in the season when colors are greatly appreciated, it is considered a less spectacular shrub than the spring-flowering C.