By John A. Wott, Director Emeritus
This view looks from Lake Washington Boulevard toward the southern end of Azalea Way. The photo was taken by H. G. Ihrig in May, 1944. It shows the opening of Arboretum Creek along Azalea Way as it flows north from the culvert under Lake Washington Boulevard. Note the large weeping willow trees as well as the large open grass path we all know as Azalea Way. 

Before we know it, it will be spring. April will be here and there will be flowers and (more) rain and leaf buds opening. We will continue on with our lives; work, school, exercise, going out and of course, gardening. Time moves on, no matter what, and it feels like it’s moving VERY quickly.

I think I may have found a way to slow things down. 

“Spring Buds”

1)   Acer monspessulanum var. turcomanicum
Montpelier maple

An elegant, compact tree reaching 23-33 feet tall.
Suitable for warm climates and adapted to calcareous and stony soils.
A mature individual is growing in the Mediterranean bed along Arboretum Drive.

2)   Magnolia kobus                Kobushi Magnolia

Blooms in early spring and bears pleasantly fragrant white flowers.
Native to Japan and cultivated in temperate climates. 

1) Chimonanthus praecox  Wintersweet

With exceedingly fragrant yellow flowers borne on the bare shoots in winter, C. praecox has a suitable home here within the Witt Winter Garden.
Chimonanthus is the Chinese counterpart of the North American genus, Calycanthus.

2)  Lonicera standishii Winter Honeysuckle

A native of China, L. standishii is a perennial favorite because of its charming fragrance.
This specimen can be found in the Witt Winter Garden. 

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.

Much like our varied and extensive collection of woody and herbaceous plants, our organization has evolved and grown over time.

One of the toughest, but also one of the most beautiful winter blooming perennials! We have a special hybrid Hellebore new to UW Botanic Gardens!

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. 

Our free public tours of the Washington Park Arboretum have begun for the new year. We hold these tours as Free Weekend Walks every Sunday from January through November. The walks are led by an experienced docent and last about 90 minutes. With over 10,500 plants in the arboretum collection we don’t run out of topics to share with our visitors. 

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.