UW Botanic Gardens Newsletter, Vol 8 Issue 2, February 2013

Join the UWBG at the NW Flower & Garden Show

(by Patrick Mulligan, WPA Education Supervisor) Please stop by the UWBG booth and say “hello” at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show this year. We’ve got a great corner spot at location 2304 in the Community Organizations area. New for this year, we’re combining forces with Seattle Parks & Recreation to create a “mega-booth” connected by a wedding arbor being built by the city’s carpenter crew. During the show, we’ll be highlighting our Rental Program, so look for lots of pretty pictures of events at our rental sites at the Center for Urban Horticulture and the Graham Visitors Center.

This year's show runs February 20-24 at the Washington State Convention Center.

Come to the Miller Library to see Joan Bazaz Art Glass

Glass artist Joan Bazaz’s work will be on display at the Miller Library in February. Bazaz creates art pieces from a process she developed using crushed glass with copper wire and small glass bits embedded in layers of glass. She begins by drawing in her North Seattle garden and then takes the drawings to her studio to translate them into glass. Flat sheets of clear and colored glass are then cut, layered, painted or silkscreened to create patterns on the glass surfaces. When heated to 1400 degrees in a kiln, the layers fuse together and enameled images are permanently fired onto the glass.

The pieces shown at Miller Library are from a new body of work inspired by 2012 botanical drawings from her home garden and the Volunteer Park Conservatory. Bazaz’s glass will be on display at the Miller Library from February 2 – 27. Please join us for an artist reception February 7 from 5 - 7 pm.

A Glimpse Into the Past

(A monthly column by Dr. John A. Wott, Director Emeritus) Each year, thousands of area school children, largely first to third graders, participate in plant science education programs held in the Washington Park Arboretum. For many years, several of the volunteer guides specialized in children’s programs, but it was the idea of two specific women which led to the founding of the Saplings Program in the mid-1980s. This October, 1987 photo shows Virginia L. Morell (right), president of the Arboretum Foundation Unit Council, and Jean L. Haigh, volunteer guide and idea catalyst, who started and led the program for its first two years of existence. In this photograph, they were demonstrating an Arbor Day Tree Planting program. They had an agreement with then Director John Wott that they would found and lead the program for its first two years, after which the University of Washington would provide leadership. From its beginning and continuing today, the funding is provided by the Arboretum Foundation. Virginia passed away in 2005 and Jean just recently in September 2012. What a wonderful legacy! (Photo by J. A. Wott, UWBG Photo Archives.)

(Jean Haigh was interviewed in 2011 during the first phase of the UWBG Oral History Project. Listen to a short clip of her interview in which she talks about the Saplings program. Her complete interview is available to the public in the Elisabeth C. Miller Library.)

February 2013 Plant Profile: Cyclamen coum

(by Soest Gardener Riz Reyes) Who says there isn’t much color in the landscape in winter time? The month of February is peak bloom time for Cyclamen coum, one of the most delicate yet tough plants in the winter garden. It hugs the ground with its rounded foliage, which is often mottled and marked with silver patterns. This prolific tuberous perennial sends out multiple buds that gently emerge and then suddenly burst into bloom.

What makes Cyclamen coum so charming is its diminutive size and the diversity of leaf color and patterns on the foliage. The vibrant colors appear on the ground as if a child had spilled a bag full of candy! It comes in wonderful whites, pinks, purples, lavenders with an occasional darker colored “eye” giving a bi-color effect.

Through the rigors of winter, whether it be gloomy wet or bitter cold, these delicate charmers are as tough as can be. Even with temperatures dropping down to -15°F, gardeners can enjoy these cheery flowers once the snow melts and the weather warms. They are wonderful under deciduous trees and shrubs or even scattered about in a lawn.

Common Name: Winter Cyclamen
Location: Soest Garden – Bed 7
Origin: Eastern Europe/Turkey/Caucasus
Exposure: Part sun – shade
Height and spread: 2-3ft. tall x 5ft. wide

twigs

Come join us at the Miller Library on Saturday, February 9, for the I Love Vegetables Story Program. Do you grow your own vegetables? These stories prove that you can learn a lot about science while you learn to garden, and have a great time in the process. Stories include Secrets of the Garden by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, Bear and Bunny Grow Tomatoes by Bruce Kolscielniak and How Are You Peeling? Foods With Moods by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers. After the stories, make a vegetable portrait for someone special. Stories and activities start at 10:30am.

Here's an early warning that the Northwest Horticultural Society Spring Plant Sale is coming to the Center for Urban Horticulture on Saturday, March 9. This annual event features dozens of vendors and lectures by gardening experts, including Dan Hinkley. Proceeds benefit the Miller Library. More details coming soon.

UWBG Education has announced the training dates for volunteer Garden Guides. Help get kids started on their journey to be engaged with the great outdoors. Guides need only attend one training, but are welcome to both. Both trainings will cover an introduction to the University of Washington Botanic Gardens as well as round table and in-the-field discussions about class management, interpretation techniques and age appropriate teaching. The training dates are February 9 and 16 from 11am to 3pm. This program is a direct descendant of the one discussed in this month's Glimpses Into the Past column (see above).

For those of you who miss the Japanese Garden during the winter months, the First Viewing and Opening Blessing is scheduled for Sunday, March 3. Call 206-324-4725 for more information.

If you've been following the saga of Heronswood Gardens, there are multiple upcoming opportunities to volunteer for work parties. The first one is February 9. For more information, visit their website or their Facebook page.  

There are also plenty of chances to join in a Winter or Spring work party for the Friends of Yesler Swamp. Due to the impact of the permanent Yesler Swamp Trail, the UW Capstone student group is starting the required mitigation. That means for every portion of wetland that is disturbed, they have to restore eight times the wetland area. The next work parties meet at CUH at 10:30am on February 9, 16 and 23.

The folks at HistoryLink recently posted a couple of interesting articles on the early days of the Washington Park Arboretum. Even if you think you know the story, they've uncovered a lot of cool facts and tidbits.

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

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Phone: 206.543.8616
Email: uwbg@u.washington.edu
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