May 21-22: BioBlitz catalogues biodiversity
During this International Year of Biodiversity, Washington Park Arboretum is hosting a fast, fun, informative BioBlitz in cooperation with the Washington NatureMapping Program and with generous support from the Arboretum Foundation. Teams of scientists, students and citizens will inventory all the plants, insects, birds, bats, chipmunks, lizards, mushrooms, mice and bacteria they can find in the Arboretum’s north end (before it's affected by the 520 Bridge Replacement) during a 24-hour period, 3:00 PM Friday, May 21, to 3:00 PM Saturday, May 22. Join the fun! Learn more or download a registration form. Not for you? The public is invited to a BioBlitz open house at the Graham Visitors Center and Greenhouse Saturday, May 22, from 1:00-3:00 PM.

May 25: Can trees & urban development coexist?
Calling all landscape architects, designers, arborists, city planners, code enforcers, policy makers, builders and contractors, and tree advocates! Immerse yourself in a discussion of Saving Trees, Tuesday, May 25, from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM at the Center for Urban Horticulture. Denis Hayes - national coordinator of the first Earth Day, current Bullitt Foundation president and one of Time Magazine's "100 Heroes of the Planet" - kicks off the second annual Urban Forest Symposium with a keynote address. Then, consider how to save mature trees during development, examine innovative technologies for incorporating trees into urban infrastructure, get up to speed on new laws protecting trees, participate in focus groups and leave inspired by Plant Amnesty Founder Cass Turnbull's closing remarks. Learn more or register, or call Jean Robins at 206-685-8033.

Kim Rooney

Clipart courtesy FCIT

From lichens to landscape design, from ferns to photography, we've got you covered
Design a garden, add small trees, propagate ferns for it, identify the lichens in it, and then photograph it... We've got you covered! To register for these classes, download a registration form or call 206-685-8033. (Coming soon - online registration and payment system for classes and workshops! Watch our website.) All classes are at the Center for Urban Horticulture unless otherwise noted, and more details are on our website.

Practical and Creative Landscape Design
8-part class, Tuesday/Thursday May 25–June 17, 7:00-8:30 PM, $220
Bring to class an actual home garden project. Wiith award-winning landscape architect Kim Rooney’s guidance you'll design garden rooms you can build and enjoy.

Lichens: A Closer Look, from field to the Workroom
Saturday, June 5, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM, UW Main Campus, $45 in advance
Study basic morphology, lichen growth forms, substrate preferences and reproductive structures with Katherine Glew, Ph.D., Curatorial Associate, Lichens, Burke Museum.

Mastering Your Digital Camera
Saturday, June 5, 9:00-4:00 PM, $150
With today’s digital camera, photography has never been easier. But are you able to consistently get the pictures you want?

Trees for the Small Garden
Monday, June 14, 7:00-8:30 PM, just $5 in advance!
Simon Toomer, author of Trees for the Small Garden and Planting and Maintaining a Tree Collection has traveled the world collecting and studying trees. He'll present some of his favorites for cultivation in the Pacific Northwest.

Propagating Ferns from Spores
Saturday, July 10, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM, $35 in advance
This workshop is for gardeners interested in the challenge and enjoyment of growing ferns from spore - or just looking for a fun way to learn about the fascinating fern life cycle.

Talented grad students present their research through art, displays & presentations
UWBG graduate student and restoration ecologist Amy Lambert is one of 11 artists whose work is featured in “Presidio Habitats,” the first site-based art exhibition presented in a national park. Her Pollen Balls Project focuses on digger bees. The year-long exhibit opens May 16 in the Presidio of San Francisco, a 1,491-acre National Historic Landmark and national park site.

Closer to home, Amy's research on the conservation of the Island Marble Butterfly and the research of other UWBG graduate students are displayed in pictures and text in the Miller Library through the end of May. Stop by and learn about the suitability of urban planting strips for food production, Garry oak planting practices, phenotypic plasticity of invasive plant species and much more. Don't know what that last one is? Come find out!

Three grad students, Lauren Urgenson, Dave Hays and Ryan Haugo, will present their research at a Washington Native Plant Society meeting June 3, 7:00 PM, at the Center for Urban Horticulture. The public is welcome to attend the free program. Hear about the impacts and restoration of Bohemian knotweed invasion along Northwest river corridors, tolerance of Himalayan blackberry to flooding and the implications for wetland restoration, and biotic interactions regulating conifer invasion of prairie ecosystems.

Is your organization looking for interesting program ideas? Contact the Student Speakers Bureau at uwbgssb@uw.edu to schedule one or more students to speak on their areas of expertise.

June 4 & 5: Discover bats, books or both
Discover Bats!
Friday, June 4, 8:00-10:00 PM
Two bat experts from Bats Northwest, John Bassett and Michelle Noe, will teach you about bats and then help you observe bats in the night skies, 8:00-10:00 PM. This family-friendly program meets at Washington Park Arboretum's Graham Visitors Center. Advance registration is required. Contact Lisa at lsanphil@uw.edu or 206-543-8801.

Young Gardeners Story Time: Nature Walk Stories
Saturday, June 5, 10:30-11:15 AM, free
Hear three stories about nature walks from the Miller Library Children's Collection. Then map an area where you'd like to take a nature walk - your backyard, favorite park, the Amazon rain forest, wherever your imagination takes you! No registration. Just drop in.

June 22: Bloom speaks, you enjoy, Molbak's donates!
Nurseryman and author Adrian Bloom, president of the famous Blooms of Bressingham Nursery in Norfolk, England, shares dramatic perennial and grass combinations for year-round gardeners Tuesday, 7:00-8:00 PM, at Molbak's, 13625 NE 175th Street, Woodinville. He'll answer your questions and sign copies of his newest book. That's reason enough to attend, but there's more! Molbak's is generously donating proceeds from the ticket sales to UW Botanic Gardens' youth education programs at Washington Park Arboretum. Thank you, Molbak's!

May plant profile:
Lupinus ‘The Governor’
[by Riz Reyes, Soest Gardener] Lupines have long been staples in the perennial border. With their elegant line, exquisite colors and fine-textured foliage, they create accents, punctuation, and almost a wave of movement when used as a group in both the garden and cut flower arrangements. We have just one lupine in the Soest Garden and it is a seedling strain known as ‘The Governor’. It is one of many Russell Hybrid lupines developed by George Russell in Yorkshire, England... Read more.

twigs. . .
May is Bike to Work/Campus Month, and a team of UW Botanic Gardens students and staff is taking the bicycle commute challenge. Team name? The PetalPushers. . .Take a free Arboretum tour the first and third Sunday of each month, departing Graham Visitors Center at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM (May 16, 11:00 AM Azalea Way; June 6 & 20, 11:00 AM Pinetum Tour). . .To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Elisabeth C. Miller Library, share your memories and stories and read others. . .Mark your calendar now for Summer Pruning of Trees and Shrubs in Washington Park Arboretum July 29, 8:30 AM-12:30 PM. . .The Miller Library Plant Answer Line provides quick answers to your gardening questions.

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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 Street, Box 354115, Seattle, WA 98195-4115
Phone 206.543.8616
Email: uwbg@u.washington.edu
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