Earth Day at the Arboretum: get dirty for a cause

FREE! Saturday, April 18, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Join UW Botanic Gardens, SCA, and Seattle Parks for a day of fun at the Washington Park Arboretum. Get your hands dirty for a cause removing non-native invasive plants, mulching, and improving the Arboretum. Projects and activities for all ages and abilities! Bring your whole family for games, leaf rubbings, and more.

Click here to RSVP online or contact Kristin Mitchell for more information: kmitchell@thesca.org or 206-324-4649.

Check out UWBG's new calendar system to explore all of our weekend walks, classes and events.

Urban Forestry: managing trees in the heart of the concrete jungle

Monday, May 11, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

UW Botanic Gardens and Plant Amnesty present this symposium on urban forest management issues and solutions. Speakers include:

Paul Ries, Urban and Community Forestry Program Manager, Oregon Department of Forestry, keynote speaker: "If Green is the New Gold, Why aren't We All Rich?"
Dr. Kathy Wolf, UW College of Forest Resources: the social and economic value of trees
Dr. Soo Hyung Kim, UW College of Forest Resources: "Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees and Climate Change"
Tom Cook, "Killing Trees With Good Intentions"
Brian Gilles, "Tree Risk Assessment for the Non-Arborist"

Intended for management-level professionals, on-the-ground technical staff, and community organizations. Register before May 1 and save $15. Registration fees after May 1st are $65, $55 for non-profits.

To register, click here to download the registration form, or contact Jean Robins at jrobins@u.washington.edu or 206-685-2590.

Need more information? Click here for details and search by "Pro-Hort" events.

Plant propagation with Riz Reyes

Saturday, April 11, 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
$45; pre-registration required

It's fun, cheap and easy! Learn to create more plants from the bulbs and perennials you already have. Get savvy tips on collecting seeds, growing from seeds, and how to take cuttings.

Our own always-entertaining gardener Riz Reyes will demonstrate how to divide and split plants to share with your friends. Hands-on experience lets you pot up and take home new starts.

View the full list of weekend walks, classes and events. For more information, call 206-685-8033.

Art of Espalier: back by popular demand

Saturday, April 25, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
$45; pre-registration required

Looking to green up your deck or patio? Want to grow your own food, but don’t have a garden? Interested in adding aesthetic value to your home? Espalier is your answer!

Create symmetrical trees, bushes, or vines that save space and please the eye. Anyone can learn this centuries-old technique! With the art of espalier, you can harvest your own apples, camouflage a fence or wall with camellias, and much more. Enrollment is open now; sign up today and reap the benefits for years to come.

View the full list of weekend walks, classes and events. For more information, call 206-685-8033.

More ways to see UWBG!

With digital media, you can explore the gardens whether you're out on Azalea Way or inside the house on a rainy afternoon. UWBG is growing online. Now, you can find the Gardens on Facebook, talk to garden staff through the uwbotanicgarden account on Twitter, or share your pictures of plants and wildlife on Flickr with other enthusiastic photographers!

April Plant Highlight:Omphalodes verna

This charming but rarely utilized spring ephemeral puts on a show in late March and well into May. This creeping member of the borage family thrives in a wide variety of soil types and prefers part-full shade to dappled light. The straight species is an ethereal blue, while the white form brings frothy frosty white flowers in profusion. It has been an outstanding perennial for dry shade with its shallow root system and it thrives growing under trees. O. verna is best used as a mass verses a specimen planting. The result is far more dramatic especially if interplanted with spring flowering bulbs.

Location: Bed 7 and Dry Shade Garden under large Oak.
Family: Boraginaceae
Origin: Central-Southeast Europe
Height: 4-6”
Spread: Can spread indefinitely, but moist clumps stay around 2-3ft. wide
Bloom Time: Early Spring
Bloom Color: Blue form and white form
Sun: Part Sun – Full Shade
Water/Soil: Medium moisture and amended soil with organic matter. Fairly drought tolerant and carefree once established.

More >> Soest Gardener Notes

Other UWBG happenings

Classes and events calendar
Youth and family programs at the Washington Park Arboretum
Miller Library news

For kids this month

Arboretum self-guided Explorer Packs
Family programs at the Miller Library

E-Flora is a regular on-line newsletter of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.

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University of Washington Botanic Gardens’ mission:
Sustaining managed to natural ecosystems and the human spirit
through plant research, display, and education.

3501 NE 41st St, Box 354115, Seattle, WA 98195-4115
Phone: 206-543-8616
uwbg@u.washington.edu
http://www.uwbotanicgardens.org

E-Flora

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