The John A. Wott Botanic Gardens Endowed Student Award was awarded this spring to Sarah Shank, a first-year Master of Environmental Horticulture student at the University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences.
A native of Pennsylvania, Sarah recently moved to Seattle for graduate school and is enjoying the opportunity to learn about the diverse flora of the Pacific Northwest. 

1)  Enkianthus campanulatus                    Redvein Enkianthus

This attractive deciduous shrub is native to open woodlands in Japan.
Tiny bell-shaped, creamy-yellow to reddish flowers held together in clusters.
Small elliptic leaves turning bright red, orange and yellow in the fall.

2)  Davidia involucrata                     Handkerchief Tree

This deciduous tree is native to woodlands in central China.
Its small, reddish purple flower heads are surrounded by a pair of large, white bracts up to 30 cm. 

Stacy Kinsell is the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator for the Rare Plant Care and Conservation Program (Rare Care), but it hasn’t been a straightforward path to get there. Kinsell’s undergraduate work was in social work and urban studies. After school, she packed up for an adventure in a new city far away from her native Georgia and moved to Seattle. She quickly fell in love with the city, but not the career and after a few years of working in her new field, Kinsell was feeling burnt out. 

With blushing pink flower trusses and leaves with a layer of attractive fuzz underneath, Rhododendron ‘Ken Janeck’ is a sensational shrub for Northwest gardens.

We are excited to introduce two new ways of experiencing the Arboretum.
For a more active person, we are offering Arboretum Running Tours. We’ll combine exercise, education, and entertainment on a fun running tour through the Arboretum, one of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks and home to the University of Washington Botanic Gardens’ world-class plant collections. You’ll learn about the history and design of the park, a few choice plants, and traditional or modern uses of various plants along the route. 

The UW Botanic Gardens, in conjunction with the University of Washington Herbarium at the Burke Museum, hosted another successful symposium that brought together professionals, academics, and botanists from around the Pacific Northwest to share knowledge and celebrate Washington State’s flora. The full day event was coordinated by a diverse group including Washington Noxious Weed Control Board, Washington Native Plant Society, Seattle Public Utilities, Washington Natural Heritage Program, US Forest Service, and Washington Bureau of Land Management. 

In 2017 the Elisabeth C. Miller Library participated in a digitization grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded to the Biodiversity Heritage Library. 777 individual journal issues were scanned by the Internet Archive from 14 titles published by 4 organizations. Now the historic and recent issues of newsletters published by the Hardy Fern Foundation, Arboretum Foundation, Northwest Horticultural Society and the University of Washington Botanic Gardens are available for the world to read. 

1)  Berberis darwinii                     Darwin’s Barberry

This barberry was discovered in Chile by Charles Darwin in 1835 during his voyage on the Beagle.
Located in the Chilean entry garden of the Pacific Connections Garden, the red-tinted flower buds open to bright yellow-orange flowers.
The abundant summer fruit of this barberry is sweet and delicious as opposed to our native sour barberries (mahonias). 

The UW Botanic Gardens staff use integrated pest management to keep flowering cherry trees healthy and beautiful.

Rebecca Janssen is the Adult Environmental Education Coordinator. Specifically, she’s helping coordinate continuing education programs for Ecological Restoration professionals, public programs on topics like native plants and sustainable gardening practices, and helping UW Botanic Gardens better understand their audience and what people are getting out of the adult education programs.
Rebecca is a Seattle native. She has a BS in Interior Design from Oregon State University, and completed a Master’s degree in Museology at UW.