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UW Botanic Gardens Newsletter, Vol 9 Issue 8, August 2014
Find your own way or take a guided tour with UW Botanic Gardens
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Upcoming Events
Free Weekend Walks
In August our guides will take visitors out to explore native plants and how the Salish peoples used them for everything from food to clothing to housing and transportation. Join us Sunday at 1pm. Learn more.
On Exhibit
in the Miller Library
Oil paintings of Northwest landscapes by Kathleen Wolfe will be on exhibit in the Miller Library through September 15th.
New Books in the Library
Want more news?
Many units at the Botanic Gardens produce regular email newsletters. Sign up for the Miller Library's Leaflet or Continuing Education's Class Catalog. We also post regularly to Twitter and Facebook.
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Where in the Arboretum? New interactive map answers that question.
If you've ever wondered whether a specific tree grows in the Arboretum and where it might be, you're in luck!
The UW Botanic Gardens has just launched an interactive map of the Washington Park Arboretum available to everyone. The map identifies landmarks, trails, gardens and, most importantly, every woody plant growing in the Arboretum. It can be browsed or searched. Users can turn layers on and off, measure distances, draw a custom route and print out a custom map. Read more about this Institute of Museum and Library Services grant-funded project.
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Orchids and Monkeys and Quetzals OH MY!
A tropical vacation in the middle of Seattle's long winter is just the remedy for January blues. Even better is a UW Botanic Gardens adventure tour in Costa Rica.
UW Botanic Gardens Director and self proclaimed plant geek, Professor Sarah Reichard, recalls happy days studying in Costa Rica and invites you to join her for a guided tour in January 2015. Read all about the tour Sarah has planned.
Holbrook Travel itinerary for January 2015 trip
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Join the urban farm movement!
The UW Farm is bursting at the seams with gorgeous organic produce. They would be thrilled to have your help. They need extra hands for harvesting and preparing boxes for CSA* customers. Volunteer to meet young farmers and get expereince growing food.
Volunteer Hours
UW Farm on Facebook
*Community-supported agriculture
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Aug 16 Tour of Union Bay Natural Area and Yesler Swamp
Professor Kern Ewing will lead you along trails through Yesler Swamp and the rest of the Union Bay Natural Area and we will see the swamp, other wetlands, grasslands, woodlands, shoreline, lakes and shorebird habitat. Cost: $10; $15 after August 9th. Register online, or call 206-685-8033. Read full class decription.
Small grass fire burns in the Natural Area on July 15.
Below are photos of before, day of burn and two weeks later. Professor Ewing explains: "Fires are not uncommon in grassland ecosystems.Grasses tend to be adapted to rebounding from fires
because their growing parts are at or below the ground level and tend to be less damaged than the buds of shrubs or trees. For this reason, fire in grasslands favors grasses and puts most woody species at a disadvantage. There are exceptions. Garry oak is a stump sprouter and re-grows after fire. Unfortunately, so does Himalayan blackberry,which has huge reserves of energy belowground and grows back as quickly as any of the other plants that lost biomass to the fire."
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August 2014 Plant Profile: Aeonium arboreum var. atropurpureum
The Aeoniums are one of the most iconic of all succulents. Unfortunately, they are not hardy in the Pacific Northwest, but they are excellent container specimens that are actually pretty easy to overwinter if cared for properly indoors. Read the complete profile.
Family: CRASSULACEAE
Genus: Aeonium
species: arboreum var. atropurpureum
Common Name: Tree Aeonium, Irish Rose, Houseleek
Location: Containers in Soest Garden
Origin: Straight species from Canary Islands, but this selection may be of garden origin.
Height and Spread: 1.5ft wide to 2ft. tall (potentially much larger in milder climates)
Bloom Time: N/A for Pacific NW outdoors (but may flower later winter/early spring if greenhouse-grown) More
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Glimpse of the past - new buildings for visitors and crew
By John A. Wott, Director Emeritus
The original Works Progress Administration-constructed office/crew building was razed. A near-by large barn/apartment building was converted into the current crew headquarters and shop, with the upstairs apartment eventually being converted to office space. In 1985 a new machine
storage shed (shown above) was added and the terrain of the land greatly changed. Read the full article.
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UW Botanic Gardens Horticulturist, Annie Bilotta, recommends watering gardens in the morning. "Morning is the ideal time because if any leaves get wet from the watering they have a chance to dry out as the day warms up and there is less chance of fungal disease problems." Irrigation resources.
2014 Invasive Plants Conference is September 16-17. Meeting the Challenge: Preventing, Detecting, and Controlling Invasive Plants
The 2014 Elisabeth C. Miller Memorial Lecture is September 11. This year is a tribute to Mrs. Miller and her legacy. A panel featuring Val Easton, Dan Hinkley and Steve Lorton will be speaking.
Kayaking tours will be offered again this year with our partners the Agua Verde Paddle Club. Tours run September 4-7 and cost $35 per person. Proceeds benefit the Saplings Scholarship Fund that enables underprivileged students to take part in hands-on, science-based school field trips.
Two out of three campers agree that praying mantis would beat dragonfly in a fight.
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KEEP IN TOUCH: 
