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The Garden Awakens

Anise 'Woodland Red' ( Illicium floridanum ) A few weeks ago, I thought spring would never arrive, but now the change is astonishing. The nights are still cold (40s and sometimes even 30s) so planting tender annuals and vegetables is unwise although I have already succumbed, but covering and uncovering things gets old quickly. Someone made a wise comment last week and I must agree with them - "Don't plant anything tender until after May 1". Several plants are blooming like never before. One is the Anise shrub (above and below). I don't know if the recent tree pruning, which is allowing more sun into the woodland path, is affecting it or perhaps it is just age, but I've never seen so many blooms. Michael refers to this as "the stinky fish shrub" and I have to admit to smell of the flowers is quite unpleasant. It is so beautiful that I can overlook that. The old pink dogwood tree, which was already here, shades our woodland path and it too is prett
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Bellevue Botanical Garden

 

The Bellevue Botanical Garden was an unexpected surprise. It should not have been as I had heard it was well worth a visit. In a word, it is magnificent! 

It was an overcast and chilly morning as we started our tour. A director at the garden gave us a boxed breakfast and told us about the history and highlights of the garden before we began to explore it on our own.


The home and 7.5 acre property, once belonging to Cal and Harriet Shorts, was donated to the city in 1981 with the provision that it be a public park. In 1984, a botanical garden was proposed and the city of Bellevue added an additional 10 acres (in 1989 they would add 19 more acres). Today the size of the botanical gardens covers 53 acres.

The gardens opened to the public in 1992.


Much of the garden is maintained by volunteers. On the day we visited, there were numerous people working in the perennial borders. The perennial borders are absolutely gorgeous -




 


 





 The Waterwise Garden -








The Rock Garden -




The Sharp Cabin -



The Urban Meadow -



I was excited to see this Golden Catalpa tree since I added one to our garden last year.


 

Another favorite tree, the Harlequin Glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum) was in the center of the Fuschia Garden -

A beautiful specim of the Golden Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), a tree that I covet -

This pretty tree near the vistor's center is Chitalpa, a cross between Catalpa bignonioides and Chilopsis linearis. We've had requests for this tree at the nursery but I've never seen it in our inventory.

 


I loved their use of Hypericum (St. John's Wort). It was used in several places throughout the garden and planted in large drifts -


On the other side of the gardens were wooded areas and shade gardens -








This was definitely a garden that I want to visit again soon.

 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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Comments

  1. danger gardenAugust 7, 2021 at 9:36 AM

    I first visited this garden on the 2011 Fling. I was so impressed, and to think I'd lived in Seattle for 10 years and never once visited...

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  2. chavlinessAugust 7, 2021 at 10:41 AM

    This is a most spectacular garden! There isn't a bad time to visit: any time, and season, it always shines and impress. I bring a friend and a lunch bag, and sit in a secluded section of the Japanese Garden, taking it all in. In normal years, there are plant and art sales. Maybe they'll be renewed for 2022.
    I love the orange Helenium and the water fall in the shade garden.

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  3. Kris PetersonAugust 7, 2021 at 2:52 PM

    Gorgeous! I was surprised to see the Chitalpa tree as I associate them with drier gardens - there are a few in my local botanic garden. If they didn't get absolutely huge, I'd plant one in my own garden.

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  4. Barbara H.August 8, 2021 at 8:29 PM

    Oh my gosh, you have seen some spectacular gardens. I can't begin to imagine the maintenance that this must require. But then it's so well planted there might not be room for interlopers.

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