The first buildings to be added to the grounds of the Washington Park Arboretum were begun in 1985, as defined in the Jones and Jones Master Plan Update for the Washington Park Arboretum. It took almost ten years for the building plans to be finalized and the funds to be raised.

Succulents continue to be popular plants for gardeners of all levels. Even though some might not be hardy over the winter, they are strikingly architectural annuals and easy to care for given the right conditions.

1)   Houpu Magnolia    (Magnolia officinalis var. biloba)

Unique bi-lobed leaf 8-12″ in length
4-8″ seed pods on display in late summer
Located in grid 27-1W in the Rhododendron hybrid bed

2)   Sargent Magnolia    (Magnolia sargentiana var. robusta)

Bears large pink flowers in spring
Large, pinkish-red fruit appear in late summer and fall
Located in grid 13-7E in Rhododendron Glen

3)   Rehder Tree    (Rehderodendron macrocarpum)

White flowers appear in spring
3-4″ seed pods weigh down branches in late summer
Located in grid 13-6E and elsewhere throughout the Washington Park Arboretum

4)   Himalayan Stachyurus    (Stachyurus himilaicus)

Deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub to height of 10’
Displays clusters of flowers in early spring
Located in grid 25-1W

5)   Yunnan Stachyurus    (Stachyurus yunnanensis)

Small evergreen shrub to height of 6’
Chains of white flowers appear in spring
Located in grid 25-1W 

UW Botanic Gardens Director, Sarah Reichard, recounts happy days studying in Costa Rica and invites you to join her for a tour in January 2015.

This photo is of a native Thuja Plicata (common name; Western Red Cedar) and shows the great J-arm branches that these trees feature. Although the Puget Mill Company logged most trees on the site by 1900, this particular Thuja was perhaps overlooked by the loggers and is therefore one of the oldest and largest specimens in the arboretum. It is located between the Witt Winter Garden and Azalea Way. 

Seattle Parks and the Northwest
Artist Kathleen Wolfe celebrates her love of nature with oil paintings on canvas featuring poppies, water lilies and landscape with majestic trees. Her paintings will be on display in the Miller Library from August 5th to September 16th.
Meet the artist at a free reception at the Elisabeth C. Miller Library on Wednesday, August 13th from 5:00 to 7:00pm. 

“Sporting Wood”
1)    White Ash    (Fraxinus americana)

Tough, plentiful, and easily bent into curves, Ash is used in tennis racquets, billiard cues, skis, and baseball bats.
White Ash is native to eastern and central North America.
This cutting is from the cultivar ‘Rose Hill’, located in grid 47-3E near the Lagoons.

2)   Common Box    (Buxus sempervirens)

Used for crocquet balls because of its hardness. 

This photograph taken in April 1976, shows Joseph A. Witt inspecting seed flats and cuttings in the “pit houses” of the University of Washington Greenhouses at Washington Park Arboretum.

A strange, but beautifully bizarre climbing hydrangea is beginning to bloom at the Center for Urban Horticulture.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1)   Erhetia dicksonii

Ornamental tree from Asia with corky bark and fragrant white terminal cymes.
Located along path heading up to Rhododendron Glen from Azalea Way, grid 15-1E.
Go to link below for thorough description and uses.
http://www.arthurleej.com/p-o-m-July07.html

2)   Holodiscus discolor      (Ocean Spray)

My favorite summer flowering Pacific Northwest native deciduous shrub.