Preserving Australian Flora in the Washington Park Arboretum

blue green leaf-like branches

The Pacific Connections Garden (PCG), found at the southern end of the Arboretum, is a place that spurs the floristic imagination. Visitors traverse hemispheres and continents while moseying through gardens that showcase plant communities from specific regions in New Zealand, China, Cascadia, Chile, and Australia. In a short walk it’s possible to pass through our version of the New Zealand high country, continue on to the Cascadia garden, featuring plants native to the Siskiyou mountains, and finish with our representation of the wine palm and monkey puzzle laden temperate rainforests of Southern Chile. 

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March 2017 Plant Profile: Corokia cotoneaster

Corokia cotoneaster may not be the first plant that you notice in the landscape, but it might be the plant keeps your attention the longest. This plant’s divaricate branching (having branches of wide angles) and its tiny dark evergreen leaves give it a sparse and angular look which is not a common sight among the green gardens in the Pacific Northwest. 

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