Friday, March 18, 2016

Back to the Washington Park Arboretum and the Pacific Connections Garden

Today we're going to jump into my version of the wayback machine and end up in Seattle on October 9th, 2015. After visiting the Pat Calvert Greenhouse I made my way over to the Pacific Connections Garden, you might remember my previous visit in 2012.

This dead tree stump is a favorite feature for the Puya (actually probably Fascicularia) growing at it's base.

I wonder if they've ever flowered?

So what is this "Pacific Connections" garden? A chance to see plants native to Cascadia, Australia, China, Chile and New Zealand all in one place (five countries connected by the Pacific Ocean at a similar latitude to Seattle, around 48 degrees north or south of the equator). You can read more about the garden here.

My favorite parts are the the Australian and New Zealand sections, here's a gorgeous Lomatia tinctoria.

And the Grevillea x gaudichaudii of my dreams...

Grevillea juniperina 'Molonglo'

And flower...

I searched and searched for a tag on this fabulous blue shrubby groundcover. I found nothing. A little online research has me thinking it may be Podocarpus lawrencei ‘Blue Gem’?

It's awfully pretty...

Moving over to New Zealand...

Cordyline indivisa

And Aciphylla aurea...

Lucky me was given one of these last year and I couldn't keep it alive.

Hoheria angustifolia

Close-up

For some reason I had to go read that brass inscription plate.

I'm glad I did.

No tag on this one...Pittosporum? (most likely a Olearia paniculata)

Ah...my Daphniphyllums!

So lovely...

And berries too!

This guy is a mystery...it looks like a magnolia?

And another no-tag plant.

I'm a sucker for those tiny leaves.

And the big strappy ones, and the needley gold ones, and, and , and... you know.

Finally we'll end with the crazy cool seed pods of Cardiocrinum giganteum, because why not?

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

36 comments:

  1. Some day I'll make it there to the Washington Park Arboretum. I bought that Aciphylla last year too, and couldn't keep it from dying.

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    1. It's so big and there is much to do maybe plan for a couple of visits!

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  2. So many striking plants but my favorites are the first and last. I am a sucker for an aged tree trunk and this may be the first time I've ever seen the Cardocrinum seedpods. The pods are almost as dramatic as the flowers. And what a great guy Karen is married to!

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    1. Truth be told I like the pods even more than the flowers...

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  3. You keep presenting us with tempting reasons to head north...or south.

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  4. I love all these plants! so exotic for me :)

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  5. Another arboretum to add to my list! Wonderful cool plants. Thank you for sharing the inscription...that was special!

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  6. Not Pittosporum, but Pseudowintera (Drimys) colorata!

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    1. Thank you Alex, I also think Evan (below) might be on to something with Olearia paniculata - what do you think?

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  7. Love them all...wow! Why haven't I been here? Oh, love the inscription, too. Very cool.

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    1. Why haven't you? Then again I don't think very many people have.

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  8. Fabulous! Question: Does Lila play Mr. Peabody?

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    1. I'm not sure I understand the question???

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  9. I really, really need to go there one of these days. Were the bromeliads at the base of the dead tree trunk labelled? They look more like Fascicularia to me. I think you're right on the Podocarpus. Fantastic little conifer. I love mine. It grows great even in horrible compacted clay in full sun. I think that "Pittosporum" looks more like Olearia paniculata, but Alex may be right. I think the plant with the tiny leaves is a Coprosma we have at Cistus, but I'm blanking on the full name.

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    1. And you are probably correct! (Fascicularia) I would have said they were labeled originally but after retracing my steps back to my first ever visit there I see that they were not and I've just always assumed. Thank you for setting me straight. I also think you're right about the Olearia paniculata. Alex's ID looks close but yours is more spot on.

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  10. Lovely. You do have the perfect climate for gardening! Everything looks so lush and healthy! This arboretum reminds me of the San Diego Botanic Garden, which I visited recently. It also has sample gardens from geographic regions around the world. Great post!

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    1. This is up in Seattle, not Portland. They stay a bit warmer (typically) in the winter than we do. But still yes, we're both blessed. Did you enjoy your visit to SD? We were there in 2014 and I really enjoyed the SD Botanic Garden.

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  11. Great idea for a garden. I'm planning to visit the NW in August and this looks like just the sort of off-the-beaten-track place that real gardeners should visit.

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  12. That's a stump with a lot of character.

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  13. So pretty... I really need to get out more and explore some of these gardens!

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    1. Life is short...indeed, explore more gardens.

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  14. What beautiful conifers. I wish we could grow more varieties here. I fell in love with so many of them when we were in Chicago at the Fling. Looks like a great place to visit.

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    1. It's a wonderful place to visit Diana!

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  15. Looks pretty lush and green for this time of year in the northwest. And what a variety! I like nature's totem pole in the first few photos.
    Ray

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    1. But it's not "this time of year"...as I mentioned in the intro the photos were taken last October.

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  16. Gotta get to the arboretum this year! Your tour and link back to the greenhouse are very enticing.

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  17. I didn't read through all the comments, so maybe this got answered already, But I was at the Arboretum today, the Magnolia is a "Houpu Magnolia" and the other plant under it that you like is a "Coprosma Propinqua "Mingimingi" I actually collected a few seeds from it to see if I could grow them!

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    1. Thank you! And good luck with the seeds.

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  18. I had a few hours to kill in Seattle the other day and finally made it to the Arboretum. The plant that bowled me over (ha ha ha ha as if there was only one!) was unlabeled and my research uncovered this older post of yours. Daphnephyllum, wow! I also happened to get a picture of the tag on the prostrate blue conifer in the Australian garden. Wish I could post the image but It says “podocarpus lawrencei blue form. SE Australia.”

    I’ll definitely be back there in a couple-few months when witch hazels come on. That must really be something.

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    1. I was there back in October but didn't walk down as far as the Daphniphyllum so it's good to know they're still looking great, they're such cool small trees. Thanks for the Podocarpus label info!

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  19. That’s “deep blue form” on the podocarpus. Plant lust activated. As for the daphniphyllum, no room in my yard, perhaps I could stealth plant it in the park down the block...

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