Since the completion of the Graham Visitors Center 10 years ago, there
has been keen interest in transforming the spaces around it into an
overview, or synoptic garden of the Arboretum's best. The Arboretum Plan
allocates a large area around the GVC and the Great Lawn to the full
expression of this idea: a year-round display of the Arboretum's most
beautiful and functional flowering trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers.
Prominent displays could include the Arboretum's most famous introductions
(e.g., Magnolia 'Wada's memory'/Wada's Memory magnolia;
Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies'/Arthur Menzies mahonia; Garrya x
issaquahensis 'Pat Ballard'/Pat Ballard garrya; Acer
macrophyllum 'Seattle Sentinel'/Seattle Sentinel bigleaf Maple), as
well as plants discovered or named by or for past staff (e.g., X
Gaulnettya wisleyensis 'Wisley Pearl'; Rosa mulliganii).
Both this and the next two exhibits describe present donor-naming
opportunities.
Synoptic garden II
This combination native/ethnobotanical garden will present the stories of the Arboretum's landforms and vegetation within local, regional and global contexts. It will be located northwest of the Great lawn, surrounding new classrooms and outdoor learning spaces. This exhibit will not be an ecogeographic simulation of Northwest plant communities, but rather several small, designed gardens on ridge, valley and marsh microsites that present natives which also make good garden plants. This garden will introduce basic plant conservation issues to visitors, using examples from the lowland Puget Sound flora. The messages presented here will be a basis for the more complex conservation messages delivered at the Ridgetop Retreat.
Color garden
This highly structured display garden, located south of the GVC, will
showcase periodically changing displays of colorful, relatively
low-growing plants that give home gardens a year-round appeal. The
planting beds will encircle a dramatic water feature. Spring and autumn
bulbs and hardy ferns are a few groups that might be included in the debut
planting, along with new introductions. The garden could become an
expanded signature bed, providing opportunities for Arboretum Foundation
members, landscape-industry professionals and other area horticulturists
to express their talents.
Children's arboretum
A child-oriented arboretum in miniature--incorporating some of the
interactive learning techniques found in children's gardens throughout the
country--is proposed for a portion of the conifer meadow area northeast
of the existing mini-playground at Lynn Street. Shielded from the
relocated freeway ramps by thickly planted berms, programs at this
hands-on exhibit can involve classes for school groups.
Arboretum rockery
This exhibit will incorporate large rock garden plants and salvageable specimens from the existing dwarf conifer garden to create a rock garden--coarser in scale than the typical assemblage of small plants usually associated with this garden type. It will be located on the north-facing slope below the Overlook.
Summer garden
This will be a modern garden of summer flowering woody plants that envelop the Madrona Terrace complex and segues into the Mediterranean scrub forest representation to the south and west. Plants on the north and east side of the buildings could be summer flowering perennials (e.g., Astilbe/false spiraea) requring more water. Some possible genera, selected for their summer bloom, include Vitex/chaste tree, Eucryphia, Embothrium, Arbutus/strawberry tree, Carpenteria/bush anemone, Zauschneria/flowering maple, Escallonia, Cistus/rockrose, Halimium.
Azalea Way
The border plantings along Azalea Way will be renovated and restored using
vigorous new plants of the best-performing and disease resistant cherries
and azaleas, along with other trees and shrubs that will extend the
blooming season throughout the year. Specialized gardens are possible
along the edge of Azalea Way, such as the newly renovated Rhododendron
Hybridizers Garden, which offer seasonal color.
Boulevard and parkway trees
The Arboretum is a place to celebrate new street tree introductions, with allees that are symbolic, long-lived and eye-catching. Three possibilities that might entice visitors include a scarlet-flowered Embothrium allee, an Araucaria araucana/monkey-puzzle allee, and a native chinquapin (Chrysolepis chrysophylla) allee. Boulevard plantings are proposed for the new Lake Washington Boulevard entrance at the northwest end and along the Foster Island Drive.
Parking lot shrub and groundcover trials
As mentioned under the Reclamation Point heading, parking lots provide the opportunity to exhibit new introductions for tough urban environments. The Boyer lot, Reclamation Point lot, new GVC lot, Madrona Terrace lot, and Japanese Garden lot provide a range of exposures, soils and mesoclimates with which to experiment with this concept.
Tall evergreen hedges
A range of upright evergreen species that do not require regular trimming will be planted along the fenceline with Broadmoor from the Woodland Amphitheater to the GVC, and in the area north of the Stone Cottage. North American Cupressus/cypress plantings will continue to be appropriate, as will be angiosperms such as Umbellularia/California laurel and Eucryphia
