UW Botanic Gardens Newsletter, Vol 6 Issue 12, December 2011
Happy Holidays from all of us at the UW Botanic Gardens, and warmest wishes for a New Year full of growth
If you think we're an unusually plaid, vested, bandana'd and cowboy hatted group, that's because we were captured for this image on our way to our Wild West holiday party. But we don't have to search them thar hills for gold. We've found that in you, our friends and supporters. Joyful holidays!
Gift certificates unlock a bushel of tantalizing classes in 2012
Crowd-free, last-minute shopping is possible! Gift certificates in the amount of $25, $50 or $100 may be applied to any UW Botanic Gardens class in 2012. To purchase call 206-685-8033, or visit our online registration site and select "UWBG Gift Certificate" in the menu of classes and events.
And while you're at it, sign up for a class yourself! There's a tantalizing line-up this winter and spring:
Landscape Design
Introduction to Landscape Tree Identification
Introduction to Mosaic
Pruning Woody Plants - ProHort
Introduction to Digital Photo Editing
Plant Identification
Orchard Mason Bees
UW Campus Tree Tour with Arthur Lee Jacobson
Botanical Drawing
Bryophyte Basics: Introduction to Mosses, Liverworts & Hornworts of the Pacific Northwest
Designed to Eat: Combining Edibles with Ornamentals for the Table
January 6 is the Early Bird deadline for Landscape Design, and other discount deadlines follow shortly after.
Plant Profile: Ilex x koehneana
[by Soest Gardener Riz Reyes] The UW Botanic Gardens has one of the largest Holly Collections in North America. This particular hybrid tends to go unnoticed until one actually gets up close to admire its bold presence as a broadleaf evergreen shrub. It almost looks like a magnolia or something from the tropics, but it’s perfectly hardy for us here in the Pacific Northwest.
This Ilex is a hybrid between the common I. aquifolium (English holly) and I. latifolia (lusterleaf holly). It does not reseed itself prolifically like English holly. It makes a stately background plant that endures poor soil and limited irrigation, and it's likely to thrive in either sun or part shade.
Common Name: Koehne holly
Family: Aquifoliaceae
Location: Soest Garden south slope
Origin: Garden
Height and Spread: 15-20 ft. high and 10-15 ft. wide. Various cultivars are shorter or taller.
Bloom Time: Late spring
Bloom Type/Color/Fruit: Dioecious, white flowers followed by red drupes in autumn/winter on current year’s wood.
View additional photos in the complete plant profile.
twigs . . .
Hillary Burgess, a graduate student pursuing a Master's degree in urban ecology and environmental horticulture at the UW, is researching vegetation and spatial variables that may influence pollinator abundance in residential gardens in southern Snohomish County. She’s looking for volunteers who live in Snohomish County who are willing to make regular timed observations of bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinating fauna in their gardens. Identification skills aren’t necessary. Hillary will visit your residence to record information about your plant species. She’ll host a short training at a Snohomish County location in March. For more information, please email Hillary.
Plein air artist Scott Landry incorporates nature's organic forms, shapes, patterns and colors in paintings that reflect a deep appreciation for nature. View his work in the Miller Library Jan. 3-30.
What can happen in a year? In a day? Curl up and observe the cycles of nature during the Miller Library's free story time Jan. 7 at 10:30 AM. After the stories, make a four seasons picture in the program room.
"Coolest. Plant. Ever." is how Emily Griffith describes the Washington Park Arboretum's Lonicera quinquelocularis, and we're inclined to respond, "Coolest. Photo. Ever." Emily is a Landscape Architecture student at the UW, and has spent some quality time in the Arboretum.
Enjoy winter scenes and evergreens during a free, guided tour in the Washington Park Arboretum Jan. 15. Meet at the Graham Visitors Center at 11:00 AM. Or take the Tour du Jour at 1:00 PM.
The Oral History of the UW Botanic Gardens is online with pictures, text and audio. Explore the history of the Washington Park Arboretum, Center for Urban Horticulture and the Arboretum Foundation as you listen to curated clips from select narrators discussing the Olmsted legacy and other themes.
It's now easier than ever to apply for UW Botanic Gardens volunteer opportunities. You can apply online!
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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