Buy a Beautiful Book and Support UBNA
Marilyn Smith Layton has created a book of images called Seasons of Life in the Union Bay Natural Area, and she is donating the profits from the sale of the book to projects in UBNA. The cost of the book is $60, and $20 of that will go to help the natural area.
You may purchase a copy in the Miller Library (cash or check only).
May Color Appears at the Washington Park Arboretum
Malus x moerlandsii ‘Profusion’
Cornus nuttallii
Fothergilla major
Davidia involucrata
Abies alba
Complete details.
Read moreMay 2011 Plant Profile: Daphne x transatlantica ‘Summer Ice’
Daphne ‘Summer Ice’ is becoming a widely recognized small shrub for the Pacific Northwest. It’s dependable, easy to care for, once established, and possesses fine qualities as such persistent leaves (for the most part) and wonderfully sweet fragrance that’s present almost year round.
Read morePlant Answer Line: Going Strong After Ten Years

In the spring of 2001 the Elisabeth C. Miller Library launched a new service designed to answer plant and gardening questions quickly over the phone or via email. Now we’re celebrating the ten year anniversary of the free answer service for gardeners.
Read moreTuesdays In the Arboretum: Group Projects
UWBG arboretum horticulture staff are taking Tuesdays by storm! The 6 member crew, along w/ the 2 recent temporary gardener hires, plus Tuesday volunteers are now making an immediate impact on improving plant collections care and general garden aesthetics. For example, this past Tuesday, there were 10 busy bees working in the Sorbus (Mountain Ash) collection, weeding and mulching. Check out the finished product (photos).
Read moreBoyer Parking Lot Tree Protection
One of the most widespread problems with trees in the urban environment is the failure to recognize the tree’s mature size. If one doesn’t take into account the space required when the tree grows up, conflicts are sure to arise. To make matters worse, the tree is often faulted for encroachment!
Several trees surrounding the Arboretum’s Boyer Parking Lot have grown up and encroached on the gravel parking spaces.
Who are the G.R.O.W. participants? A profile of Nathan Hale students
hanging baskets lined up in greenhouse
Students in Jessica Torvik’s Horticulture/Ecology classes meet in the Nathan Hale High School greenhouse on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. The new site for horticulture classes is a few minutes’ walk from the main school building,
across the street and up the hill. As they arrive, the students take the initiative to begin doing tasks assigned to
them in their working groups.
Plant Sale Season Now in Full Swing
Charitable plant sales take place all over the Northwest every year and this cold wet spring is no exception. Take a look at our plant sale calendar, then go out and buy a few plants for a good cause.
Read morePURPLE MARTIN CONDOS ARRIVE AT CUH
Condos at CUH by Constance Sidles
Yesterday the UW Botanic Gardens staff installed some new condominiums west of the greenhouses near the Center for Urban Horticulture. Oh, not for people, but for purple martins.Purple martins, you see, are our largest swallows, and they have been in decline for a long time. They nest in holes, and they like to live together in a colony.
Perennial Plant Trials: Blooms of Bressingham Report 2009-2010
Since 1997, the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) has been the recipient of plants from one of the most prominent names in the perennial plant industry. Blooms of Bressingham (referred to simply as “BLOOMS”) has been a source of the world’s finest perennial plant introductions for many years.
Read more