Local Honey: Puget Sound Beekeepers Association at Gifts & Greens Galore Event

This year my apple pies have a local touch, thanks to the beautiful honey I bought from the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association. The honey is rich amber and absolutely delicious. I found this honey source in 2016 when I was driving past the Washington Park Arboretum one December afternoon and saw signs for the Gifts & Greens Galore event. 

Inside the Graham Visitor Center at the Arboretum, the Gifts and Greens Galore event sells pre-bundled fresh cut greens donated by area gardeners and Arboretum horticulturalists as well as nature-inspired decorations, ornaments and honey. Shopping at this event helps to "support maintenance, environmental education, and volunteerism at the Arboretum!"   

There are a variety of places to buy honey from the Puget Sound Bee Keepers Association, but I thought that this was a particularly great way to attend a local event, buy a unique hostess gift and support local beekeepers. Huzzah!

Mark your calendar for Saturday, December 7, 2019 from 10 am - 3 pm at the Washington Park Arboretum gift shop & visitor center. Free admission and parking.  

#beekeepers #localhoney #washingtonparkarboretum #hostessgift

Northwest Flower & Garden Festival: Spectacular Show Gardens

I want to take a moment and show you a few of the standout show gardens at this year's Northwest Flower & Garden Festival. The show gardens are life size examples of how plants, walls, furniture and landscaping can transform a space. The theme of this year's show was "Gardens of the World."

This first garden (above) was "Notting Hill Modern English Garden" by Folia Horticultural and Design. It was a favorite of mine because I loved the layers of green on green on green. It's hard to see, but there is a fireplace-size curtain waterfall between the topiary trees that adds movement and a calm water element. Love!

This beautiful courtyard garden is "Under the Mediterranean Sun" by Washington Park Arboretum Foundation and designed by Phil Wood, Bob Lilly and Roger Williams. By hanging a spotlight, the team evoked the sun casting shadows through the grape vine draped portico. Bravo. Every element from the colored doors to the Bitter Orange tree bursting with fruit told the story of a hot and quiet afternoon a world away.

  
#nwfgs #seattleblogger #finddelight #mediterranean #gardendesign #landscapedesign #gardenshow #seattle

Beautyberry Makes A Show outside a Show

Remember when I decided that of the 5 types of winter berries on display at the Washington Park Arboretum, that the purple Beautyberry was my favorite? 

Well just days after seeing the cuttings and explanations at the arboretum, I saw a magnificent example of a Beautyberry in real horticultural life! 

It is December in Seattle and there is a magnificent Beautyberry tree in full "berry" outside the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. I noticed it as I was entering the Urban Craft Uprising holiday gift show. What luck. And I answered my own question - yes, the berries are noticeable enough to make a show.

Gifts and Greens Galore at Washington Park Arboretum

Have you heard about the Washington Park Arboretum's Gifts and Greens Galore? I'm realizing that I'm going to have to live in Seattle a while, see each season's activities and note what I want to attend next year. I keep stumbling upon things a little late.

This really neat one-day event at the Washington Park Arboretum gift shop sells pre-bundled greens from the arboretum and members' gardens. Pricing is $5, $10 or $15 per bundle and is marked with colored zip ties. There wasn't much left when I arrived just before the sale closed, but I could get an idea of what they offered and I love it. I can see myself fashioning a wreath from these fresh greens or even a circle centerpiece to ring a large candle.

The arboretum has a terrific gift shop year-round. This event showcased a selection of nature-inspired jewelry, laser cut wood candle holders, felted ornaments, bird seed balls and packets as well the item that got my attention: honey!

This is honey collected from hives inside the Washington Park Arboretum! Isn't that interesting? 

The countless blooms and blossoms of the season distilled into a natural wonder. I had to have a jar. I am so pleased that they use hexagonal jars in a nod to the honeycomb shape and I was interested to notice that the honey came in a variety of shades. No doubt due to when and where it was collected. I chose one that was darker, as most of my honey is pale amber in color.

Make note on your calendar that the Washington Park Arboretum's Gift and Greens Galore event will be early December next year - check their website next fall. I'll see you there! 

Winter Berries at Washington Park Arboretum

3 = Boyce Thompson Xanthocarpa

4 = Ilex Rubra

5 = Sorbus Forrestii

I was driving past the Washington Park Arboretum entrance on Saturday, Dec 3rd when I saw small signs promoting "Gifts and Greens." I parked and walked into the gift shop lobby to find out what it was all about. I will tell you more about Gifts and Greens tomorrow, but I want to show you what I came upon in that very lobby. Winter Berries!

Nothing is as helpful as a real world example and a detailed description. A blogger who wants to share such things with you doesn't hurt either (wink).

Japanese Box Leaf Holly

The Washington Park Arboretum had 5 cuttings from winter berries that thrive in the Seattle area and a description about each plant. 

It was titled "Have a Berry Thanksgiving." 

I'd like to thank the staff for posting this helpful winter berry display. 

"Boyce Thompson Xanthocarpa"

I loved this purple Beautyberry the most and wondered if I planted one at my new house, if it would make a show and how quickly. I have black raspberries on my formal china and I would love to be able to snip a bit of beautyberry to add to my centerpieces. I should be planting raspberries too, for that matter. My new yard will cram jam with beautiful plants. I can't wait.

1 = Beautyberry

Seattle: Washington Arboretum: Azalea Way

Azalea Way, a path within the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, is in full bloom and you don't want to miss it. Before you wander, start in the Visitors Center and look over the day's cutting display, it showcases cuttings from the trees and bushes that are in bloom. 

An up-to-date summary is also available online, if you want to see if your favorite species is blooming before you head over. Right now, the star of the park are the azaleas planted on Azalea Way.

I visited last week to see if the wisteria-covered pergola was in bloom. It had just started, as you can see from my photos below. Wisteria is a sturdy vine with lilac-scented white or purple clusters that hang off the vine like grapes. The blooms are hanging through the slats of the pergola at the Washington Park Arboretum Visitors Center.

This wisteria is so old and established, that the vine curling up the wood of the pergola (below) is as thick as a tree trunk.

Onto the azaleas! You may have first noticed these beauties while watching The Masters golf tournament on television in Augusta, Georgia. The Augusta National Golf Course  is known for its beautiful landscaping. The pine trees and sweeping fairways are an ideal backdrop for the colorful azaleas.

I have visited the Washington Park Arboretum many times, but not when the azaleas were at their peak. Can you see the pinks (above) blend into bright yellow, then orange and coral?

In this photograph, I was able to capture even more unusual shades, including periwinkle!

I think this is a "Geisha" azalea, which features a few individual pink blooms scattered among the predominately white blossoms. At first, I thought that 2 varieties had grown together, but no, this plant has humor in its genes. The pop of pink scattered across the plant looks like jewels sewn on a fluffy white gown and it has become a new favorite of mine. 

Speaking of gowns, I think this variety of azalea, with smaller tighter blooms, looks like an Oscar-worthy creation by Mother Nature - Spring 2015.

My Third Spring: Cherry Blossoms Start the Season in Seattle

I found these two examples of flowering cherry trees when I was in the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle last month.  I loved that I could frame the picture so that the branch of darker cherry blossom puffs frame the more delicate pale pink cherry branches. Don't you think its pretty?

Time marches on, these blooms have faded in Seattle, but miraculously I am experiencing my third Spring this year.  When I arrived in Seattle in early April, I was thrilled to see a magnolia tree in full bloom outside of our hotel.  I remember being so happy about this sign of Spring that I texted a picture of the tree to show my mom.

When I returned home to southeastern Michigan in early May, I hadn't missed a thing! The flowering crabs on the side of our house were just leafing out.  The dogwood tree was still dormant and the Bradford Pears were just about to bloom. My roses in the rose garden were alive (I could see small wisps of leaves at the base of each plant), but I'd lost the bulk of each cane to the cold winter temperatures. I've given them a lot of care over the past 2 weeks (pruning, Rose Tone fertilizer, Neptune's Harvest fish emulsion and a coating of bug spray) and I have high hopes for a healthy blooms by late June.

Now I am up north and everything is just starting to bloom here!  How can I be so lucky? The lilacs are just coming out, the forsythia makes vibrant swaths of yellow here and they and I saw the river lined with Marsh Marigolds today! I have been able to experience a "second Spring" by traveling north to the cottage, but I never dreamed I'd be able to start with the tulip festival in Washington on April 12 and still watch bulbs develop by the cottage in Michigan on May 30. That is a lot of Spring and I enjoyed every minute of it.  

Seattle: Washington Park Arboretum: A Flowering Crab is Pretty in Pink

A flowering crabapple in the Washington Park Arboretum is pretty in pink.  Look at how the petals that have fallen make the ground look like its covered in pink snow.  If ever a tree looked fit for a fairy tale, this is it.

Seattle: Magnolias in Washington Park Arboretum

I know I am posting a lot about flowers, but it is SPRING and I am delighted every day with the flowering shrubs and trees that are in bloom in Seattle. 

Delicate blossoms like the magnolia are only pristine for a short time (a day?), so when I had the chance, I took a photo of this magnificent specimen at the Washington Park Arboretum.