In this garden, you will find amazing plants from five countries connected by the Pacific Ocean. You’ll see alpine bottlebrush (Callistemon pityoides) from the boggy peatlands of Mt. Kosciusco, Australia’s tallest peak. Experience a wonderful array of hardy fuschias (Fuchsia magellanica) from Chile. Compare a fern native to East Asia (Woodwardia unigemmata) to one from the Himalayas (Dryopteris wallichiana). Admire the broad, swordlike leaves of Phormium colensoi and Astelia petriei, and the interesting forms, leaves and flowers of dozens of other New Zealand species on display. Appreciate the vast scale of Cascadia’s plants, from the tiny blooms of the inside-out flower (Vancouveria planipetala) to the immense trunk of a western redcedar (Thuja plicata). These and many more plants are found in the meadow, gardens, and forests that make up this twelve-acre garden.
If you have just five minutes to visit the Pacific Connections Gardens, stop at the Pacific Connections Meadow and walk the short, circular loop around the open lawn. Here you’ll find interpretive signage describing each of the diverse Pacific Connections gardens and their plantings, as well as access to the trailheads for each garden. Step out of the elements to enjoy the timber-framed shelter, featuring more interpretive signage and maps describing the gardens and the regions or geographical areas of the world they represent. Notice the twelve carved columns supporting the shelter demonstrating designs inspired by indigenous cultures hailing from the represented regions featured in the gardens. These Cedar columns were salvaged from trees at the Washington Park Arboretum, and were carved by volunteers during a series of public workshops in 2007. The open meadow is one of the best places at the Arboretum to have a picnic on a sunny day or meet-up with a group to walk one of the many trails that connect here, along the meadow loop.
Iconic Plant – New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax) The New Zealand Forest is more than just a forest. Notice that it is composed of seven distinct vegetation sections: two southern beech (Nothofragus) forests, three shrublands, and two grasslands. All of these sections are modeled on actual plant communities found in mid- to high-elevation zones on the South Island of New Zealand. The new forest, planted on a slope, has been designed in an altitudinal pattern, with alpine grassland and shrubland habitat at the top and montane and wetland habitat at the base. Walk down the gentle switchback trail and observe as the landscape and plant communities change, as they would in a natural setting. At the bottom of the trail of the new forest, you will arrive at the historic Stone Lookout. The forest also features a relocated version of the New Zealand High Country Exhibit, the Arboretum’s first eco-geographic display dedicated in 1993.
Iconic Plant – Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana) Isolated from the rest of South America by the Andes Mountains and the Atacama Desert, Chili is a major center of unique plant diversity. That diversity is represented in the myriad of plantings found in the Gateway to Chile garden. From arid deserts to temperate rainforests to mountain grasslands, Chile’s diverse habitat’s and plants are celebrated in this garden. Located at the southern intersection of Arboretum Drive and Lake Washington, the Gateway to Chile was the first display garden to be completed in the Pacific Connections Garden. Notice the eye-catching array of Chilean trees—including monkey puzzle (Araucaria aurucana), Chilean wine palm (Jubaea chilensis), winter’s bark (Drimys winteri var. andina), Chilean fire bush (Embothrium coccineum), and Austrocedrus chilensis (a beautiful conifer that can grow more than 1,500 years old)—planted among the boulders and slopes of the restored historic Holmdahl Rockery.
Iconic Plant – Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) Extending from northern California to British Columbia, the forests of the Cascade Range are among the richest temperate coniferous rainforests in the world. In this forest garden, you can explore the diversity and uniqueness of this local region and learn more about the amazing habitat found right here in the Pacific Northwest . Cascadia was the first of the completed focal forests in the Pacific Connections Garden. It specifically highlights the native flora from the Siskiyou Mountain region in southern Oregon. This forested region is particularly noted for its rich plant diversity and numerous endemic plants, found nowhere else on Earth but in the Siskiyou Mountains. Throughout the garden you can see the amazing diversity represented in the layered plantings featured in this garden. Here you can see a multi-story forest in action, from the tall, upper-story coniferous trees like firs (Abies), pines (Pinus), and spruces (Picea); to the understory broadleaf evergreens like Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium); to chaparral plantings like evergreen kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and salal (Gaultheria shallon).
Iconic Plant – Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) China is rich in plant diversity. Nearly every plant family found in the tropical and temperate zones of the northern hemisphere is represented in China. This garden displays many plant species familiar to North American gardeners, such as bamboos, rhododendrons, and epimediums.
Iconic Plant – Snow Gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora) The natural landscape of Australia was once a mosaic of forests, grasslands, and desert, but much of it has been forever changed by logging, farming, and grazing. This graden provides a glimpse of the plant diversity of this region.
A short walk from the Graham Visitors Center via the Hillside Trail, the Joseph A. Witt Winter Garden features a central lawn encircled by tall cedars and firs and a tremendous assortment of smaller trees, shrubs and perennials. This garden is at its best from late November through the end of March, when much of the rest of the park is relatively quiet and subdued. Winter Garden map and plant list (pdf).
What makes a plant suitable for a "winter garden”? Splashes of color are welcome. You can't miss the bright yellow blossoms of Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies' and Chinese witchhazel (Hamamelis mollis) or the bright pink blooms of Cyclamen coum. Shrubby dogwoods show off red and yellow bark, while small orange-red fruit covers the winterberry (Ilex verticillata ‘Afterglow’).
Some plants, such as sweet box (Sarcococca) and fragrant daphne (Daphe odora 'Zuiko Nushiki'), are selected for fragrance. Many plants such as hellebores (Helleborus), dogwoods (Cornus) and the silk tassel (Garrya x issaquahensis) feature elegant, delicate and interesting blooms. Attractive foliage is a plus, whether it is evergreen like the rhododendron’s, spotted like the pulmonaria’s, or subject to change. The William Penn barberry’s (Berberis x gladwynensis 'William Penn') dark leaves turn bronze-red in winter. More information.
Just off Azalea Way, the Woodland Garden features two quiet ponds connected by a seasonal stream running through a small valley. The ponds and stream are framed by naturalistic stonework and an impressive variety of woodland plants. Originally designed in 1938, the Woodland Garden has matured into a layered mix of plants that thrive in a wooded setting.
Here you’ll find one of the largest Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) collections in North America. Acer palmatum ‘Shishigashira,’ ‘Scolopendrifolium,’ and ‘Seiryu’ are just three of the more than 70 cultivars in this garden. Many cultivars were imported from Japan in 1940 and 1941 from famed nurseryman Koichiro Wada. Many others have been added in the decades since. Here you will see all the variety the species has to offer. If you’re thinking that autumn must be a great time to visit so many maples, you’re right! But the brilliant foliage of the redvein enkianthus (Enkianthus campanulatus), witch alder (Fothergilla major), sourwood (Oxydendrum arboretum), and the Japanese spicebush (Lindera obtusiloba) shouldn’t be missed either. More information.
Azalea Way is the most iconic feature of the Washington Park Arboretum. Azalea Way was developed beginning in the late 1930s and is a key feature of the original Olmsted Brothers design. It is a 3/4 mile long level walk through the heart of the Arboretum, featuring azaleas, flowering cherries, dogwoods, magnolias and companion plants, set against a backdrop of evergreen trees and second growth conifers. The Seattle Garden Club sponsored the design and the initial plantings of thousands of azaleas in 1939. Many other groups continued with support over many years of plantings. More Information.