Plant Life
By Valerie Easton
Clippings
. . . an occasional gathering of garden notes
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 COURTESY OF WOODLAND PARK ZOO In the 1950s, the Rose Garden at Woodland Park Zoo featured a reflecting pool, which now is planted all around. The roses in general look much more mature.
COURTESY OF LITTLE AND LEWIS After the venerable golden chain tree in the Little and Lewis Sculpture Garden took a fatal dive, it gave rise to a bright idea. |
A Rose Garden revival blooms
The Seattle Parks Foundation is seeking family memories of the Rose Garden at the Woodland Park Zoo. A sensual kaleidoscope of color, scent and flowery formality at the mouth of the zoo, the Rose Garden has been a gathering place for generations of Seattleites. On sunny days its lawn is carpeted with picnic blankets, and its gazebo has sheltered thousands of weddings over the years.
When my daughter was little, I took her there every June for her birthday to smell all the roses and choose her favorites. It didn't turn her into a gardener, as I hoped, but 20 years later she still loves roses. Because the garden has always been free and open dawn to dusk every day of the year, it's been popular since its opening in 1924.
Eighty-one years later, the roses are still going strong, but structures and water elements central to the garden's charm are sadly in need of repair. The Seattle Parks Foundation has undertaken a fund-raising campaign to restore those historic features. We have so few formal public gardens in Seattle, and this one is a treasure. You can participate by sending memories and getting involved in the campaign to restore leaky pools and fountains, repair the decaying sculpture and build a pergola from the original 1922 design. The goal is to complete fund raising by September and begin restoration as soon as the wedding season finishes up in October.
Send a paragraph or two of memories to: Rose Garden Memories c/o The Seattle Parks Foundation, 860 Terry Ave. N., Seattle, 98109, or by e-mail to Jennifer@seattleparksfoundation.org. Contributions for Rose Garden restoration can be sent to the Seattle Parks Foundation at the same address.
A tree falls on Bainbridge
Now In Bloom
Dark-leafed foliage plants like Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate' play striking backdrop to all the yellow and golden flowers of summer. Known as white snakeroot, due to its clusters of little white flowers later in the summer, this 4-foot-tall perennial is most useful for its deliciously dark chocolate foliage tinged with purple and coppery tones. It doesn't grow as leggy as its Joe Pyeweed relatives, and birds and bees love its pretty flowers.
ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL SCHMID
Another reminder that gardens are all too ephemeral came in May when the much-photographed golden chain tree in the Little and Lewis Sculpture Garden on Bainbridge Island came tumbling down. David Lewis was standing on his front porch talking on the phone and looked up to see the tree fall over. Just like that. It was right after one of those May thunderstorms with heavy rain, and the tree's flowers hung so heavily with moisture that the roots were yanked out of the ground. Expecting a PBS film crew the next day, Little and Lewis had the tree cut up and out of there in no time. Even though we're used to seeing the garden through a haze of yellow bloom, they're cheerful about replacing the venerable golden chain tree with a variegated sweet gum. Lewis says plants that had never seen daylight because of the shade cast by the big tree are enjoying the sunshine . . . Sounds like the gardeners are adjusting to the new reality as well as the plants have.
More help for the planet
A follow-up to the review of the new book "Plant" that appeared in this column a few weeks ago. I heard from the book's editor, Janet Marinelli, that Botanic Gardens Conservation International is building on the book by launching a "Plant for the Planet Campaign" (www.plantfortheplanet.org), which features a handy and current plant-conservation checklist for gardeners.
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Wells-Medina Nursery has whipped us all into a frenzy with its coleus premier party. The day before the party, I ran into a gardener who moaned that he was only on the waiting list to get in, then added that he and his wife had just received a shipment of 150 coleus plants from a Midwest nursery. He admitted it was a stunning selection of coleus but was still disgruntled at not getting into a party to see — and buy — yet more coleus, a plant scorned by most of us just a few years ago. The phrase "A Fine Madness" must have been coined for gardeners.
A show to watch for
Next January the Tacoma Art Museum will host a show called "Contemporary Photography and the Garden — Deceits and Fantasies" featuring 67 photos of gardens around the world. This should be a stunning exhibit. Stay tuned for details before the end of the year.
Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net.
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