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Elisabeth C. Miller Library

Keyword: Washington Park Arboretum

Historic plantings in Washington Park Arboretum

I am researching the early years of the Washington Park Arboretum for a historical narrative I’m writing. Can you tell me what is growing near the footbridge from E. Lynn Street into the Arboretum in a January 1912 photograph? Do you know when the bridge was constructed?

I did find a 1935 plan from the Olmsted archives which seems to have a full inventory of plants, but some of the abbreviations escape me.

I am seeking any other online sources that might help in my research.

 

The bridge, designed by the architects William Sayward and Walter Willcox, was built in 1910, and at the time was referred to as the Arboretum Sewer Trestle or the Arboretum Aqueduct. Because the photo was taken in winter, it does not provide useful clues about the bare shrubs and trees. However, the 1935 plan does yield information, assuming some of those plants would have been there at the time of your photo. I can decode some of the abbreviations (such as Syc for sycamore, V.M. for vine maple, and Cot for cottonwood, W for willow, and A could be alder), and an awful lot of “Cat,” which turns out to be Catalpa, according to the 1936 plan’s Legend of Trees in the high resolution version of the image.

In addition to the Olmsted archives online, you may find these links useful:


Click the image to view close-up.

Rhododendrons at peak bloom

Would you be so kind as to tell me when rhododendrons are usually at their peak bloom?

The peak season for Rhododendron blooms would probably be May, but there are Rhododendrons which bloom earlier and later than this as well (March through June). For more detail about which species bloom at what time, you may find this link to Oregon State University’s Landscape Plants web site of interest.

From the Washington Park Arboretum’s list of plants at their peak:

March: Camellia, flowering cherry, corylopsis, daphne, forsythia, heather, hellebore, magnolia, rhododendron, witch hazel.

April: Azalea, barberry, camellia, flowering cherry, halesia, maple, madrona, magnolia, rhododendron, serviceberry.

May: Crab apple, dogwood, magnolia, mountain ash, rhododendron, red bud, serviceberry.

June: Rock roses, brooms, Korean dogwood, rhododendron, stewartia, styrax

plants at the Washington Park Arboretum

I’m thinking of planting the following plants in my garden but would like to see them first. Can you tell me if they are at the Washington
Park Arboretum? The plants are: Chinese Witchhazel, Witch Alder, Mountain Laurel, Soft Shield Fern, and Variegated Kiwi Vine.

 

The Washington Park Arboretum has many examples of Hamamelis mollis, or
Chinese witch hazel (unless you meant Corylopsis sinensis or Loropetalum
chinense, which also go by the common name ‘Chinese witch hazel’). Kalmia
latifolia (Mountain laurel) and Fothergilla (but not Fothergilla
gardenii, which is Witch alder) are also in the Arboretum. The variegated
kiwi, Actinidia kolomikta, used to be grown here at the Center for Urban
Horticulture. Soft shield fern, or Polystichum setiferum, may be in the
Arboretum, but is not listed, as it is not a woody plant. You can search the Washington Park Arboretum’s Living Collections database by the plants’ scientific or common names (sometimes it’s best to search the scientific name, for clarity). You can search the Arboretum’s interactive map and there is also a trail map linked here which provides information on large collections of plants, so you can get a sense of where to find things. You can go to the Graham Visitors Center in the Arboretum and ask for assistance in locating the witch hazels (some are in the Witt Winter Garden, and
others are in a grove on the south end of the park) and other plants.

All of these plants grow well in our area. I have a dwarf form of
Fothergilla in my garden, and it has been thriving. I have also seen many
of the other plants in your list growing happily in private gardens in
Seattle. Since you wish to know what they look like, here are several links to
additional information with pictures.

Hamamelis mollis picture >

Fothergilla gardenii Picture 1
Picture 2

Kalmia latifolia Picture 1
Picture 2

Actinidia kolomikta Picture 1

Picture 2

Polystichum setiferum
Picture 1 (from a local gardener)

Picture 2

Seattle Japanese Garden

The website for the Seattle Japanese Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum has information about visiting, an event calendar and a blog with articles about the garden.

Washington Park Arboretum

The Washington Park Arboretum, located in Seattle, website includes links to directions, a trail map and seasonal highlights.

Sherwood Park History Files

From the Sherwood files site: “Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Sherwood History Files are the incredible legacy of Donald N. Sherwood (1916-1981), who worked as an engineer for Parks for 22 years from 1955 to 1977.” The documents includes annotated sketches and typed documentation and development history of Seattle parks.

WPA Master Plan

Information on the “long-range master plan for the Washington Park Arboretum that will serve as a road map for improvements at the Arboretum for the next 20 years.”

The Wild Within

Wild within cover “The Wild Within” is a photo collection highlighting the wetlands — with a special emphasis on the animals of the Washington Park Arboretum. It is a real page-turner, but pages that you’ll return to and savor frequently with an even deeper appreciation of the value of our Arboretum.

Essays provide occasional breaks in the photographs and they are well worth reading. Notables Dale Chihully, Dan Evans, Peter Steinbrueck, William Ruckelshaus and others shed their public faces to give very personal accounts of the importance of the Arboretum.

Excerpted from the Fall 2008 Arboretum Bulletin.