UW Botanic Gardens Newsletter, Vol 5 Issue 12, December 2010
Dec 11-12: Enjoy holiday fun at Gifts & Greens Galore
Come breathe deeply this Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM, in the Washington Park Arboretum. There's nothing like fresh-cut greens, free hot drinks and live seasonal music to help get you ready for the holidays. The Arboretum Foundation's annual Gifts & Greens Galore holiday sale offers a beautiful array of botanical tableware and jewelry, wreaths, handmade cards and holiday decorations. Plus, the Evergreen A's will host a vintage car show on Sunday and offer free Model A rides along Arboretum Drive. Also on Sunday only, the UW Botanic Gardens education staff will provide holiday-themed activities for children.
Dec 11: We're never too busy for a good story
This month's Saturday Stories in the Miller Library, based on a "Winter Walk" theme, will keep your family connected to nature as the days grow shorter and cooler. Afterward, bundle up and take your own winter walk on a nearby trail in Union Bay Natural Area or Yesler Swamp to observe nature's seasonal changes—a lovely respite from the increasing pace of the holidays. Story Time starts at 10:30 AM. It includes an art activity, and it's free. The first Story Time of the new year, Jan. 29, will give you ideas on how to "Start Something Wonderful."
December Plant Profile: Prunus 'Mount Vernon'
[by Riz Reyes, Soest Gardener] Contrary to the common, overused and potentially invasive Prunus laurocerasus, this selection is a welcome addition to the landscape. ‘Mt. Vernon’ is beginning to appear in many urban plantings both as a hugging evergreen groundcover and as a prostrate specimen shrub in front of a border. It is versatile, hardy and dependable, with glossy, deep green foliage that looks fabulous all year round. It is also slow growing, and it doesn’t have the “seeding-around” problem associated with cherry laurel in our climate. The low, almost creeping habit is exquisite, especially around hardscapes and any areas you need to soften in appearance. For details about growing the plant, see Riz's complete plant profile.
Jan 2: Start the new year with a local adventure
Enjoy "Winter Scenes and Evergreens" during a themed walk departing from outside the Graham Visitors Center near the parking lot in Washington Park Arboretum at 11:00 AM. (The building is closed Jan. 2; restrooms remain open.) A second walk departs at 1:00 PM. Where will that walk take you? That depends on your guide! Catch free guided walks again Jan. 16, same times. Additional upcoming walks are listed in our public program calendar.
The Visitors Center and Center for Urban Horticulture will be closed Dec. 24, 25 and 26, and Dec. 31, Jan. 1 and 2.
Insects, art and ID await your exploration
Haven't you always wanted to know whether that bug was a good guy or a bad guy? Watch our website for information on Evan A. Sugden's class on beneficial insects, 4 Tuesday evenings beginning Jan. 18; Linda Ann Vorobik's 2-day workshop, "An Introduction to Botanical Art," Jan. 29-30; and David Giblin's plant identification class, 6 Tuesday evenings beginning Mar. 8 with 2 Saturday field trips. Details and additional classes will be posted online as they are confirmed, or email us for more information.
twigs. . .
Graduate student Brooke Sullivan, who has been studying with UWBG faculty member Kern Ewing, is the first recipient of the new George and Emily Muller Student Award. Chip Muller and Angela Ginorio created this endowment to honor Mr. Muller's parents, who cared deeply about horticulture.
Come marvel at "From the Ground Up," botany- and nature-inspired
quilt art created by members of the Contemporary QuiltArt Society and exhibited in the Miller Library through the end of January.
Lakeside School students volunteered in the Arboretum as a follow-up to their recent global service learning trip to Costa Rica. Would you like to get your hands dirty in the Arboretum's Holly Collection? You're welcome to join a Qwest Pioneer volunteer work party Jan. 8, Feb. 12 or Mar. 12 from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM. Contact David Zuckerman for information.
Sarah Reichard, professor and associate director of the UW Botanic Gardens, will share stories about researching her new book, The Conscientious Gardener: Cultivating a Garden Ethic, at a book launch party Feb. 17, 2011, at the Center for Urban Horticulture.
Last weekend's conference, "Cultivating Regional Food Security," was a great success. It attracted 160 participants, from farmers to policy-makers, including Seattle City Council Chair Richard Conlin and Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon. You can read recaps by a participant from ECOSS and a participant from UWBG. Planning is already underway for our next conference, which will focus on rare plants with special attention on the effects of climate change. Interested? Block out Sept. 15-16 on your new 2011 calendar!
E-Flora is a regular online newsletter of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.
University of Washington Botanic Gardens' mission:
Sustaining managed to natural ecosystems and the human spirit through plant research, display, and education.
3501 NE 41st Street, Box 354115, Seattle, WA 98195-4115
Phone 206.543.8616
Email: uwbg@u.washington.edu
Web: www.uwbotanicgardens.org
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