Washington Park Arboretum – Wintersweet shrub – January 2021
A new year and our dependable winter bloomers are in full swing at the Arboretum. I took a stroll there in mid January with Leah and Pasha, our oldest grandchild. What fragrance and beauty to behold! The witchhazels were in full bloom, but I’m guessing they are still pretty great even now.
Besides the showier witchhazels, the incredible sweet scent of Chimonanthus praecox- Wintersweet is worth a trip just to make your nose happy. My husband was astounded by it – such a pale yellow bloom and, although full of flower, not showy really. Lovely up close, as the photo shows, but it’s strentgth is it’s perfume.
There are so many different yellow flowering witchhazels, many not labeled, but who needs a name when they shout out with such abundance in the winter.
The orange and red tones don’t seem to be as fragrant but add so much to the color palette mixed in with the yellows.
One of the things I appreciate is how the Arboretum has the space to let these very large, wide-spreading shrubs grow as they should. There is a house nearby which planted witchhazels on the side of the driveway and they are kept pruned into a tight round bun. A sad shape for a witchhazel to be confined to! Seeing mature plants will help you make better decisions for your garden.
Such an unlikely fall / winter bloomer, Cyclamen hederifolium, is found in a large swath in the witchhazel garden at the Arboretum. These lovely bulbs will self-seed where happy, and spread to a fantastic carpet.
This fantastic and very large evergreen fern I found located in two places – this photo taken near the Visitors Center. It looks a bit like a holly fern but with leaves that resemble a mahonia, yet aren’t as sharp. I will be keen if anyone can properly identify it. It was probably 2 feet tall and 4′ wide.
I discovered nature has it’s own tree that makes the understory look like it has had a toilet paper prank pulled on it.
The US native, Magnolia macrophylla ( Bigleaf Magnolia ), produces the largest simple structure leaves of any plant in the US. The walk at the arboreum showed a pale grey carpet of fallen leaves looking so much like a wet T P prank I had to laugh.
The Wednesday before Valentines began with Brita, baby Jura & I going to the wonderful Seattle Wholesale Growers Market to pick up fresh blooms from many local growers.
Jura was a ray of sunshine carrying her mama’s acacia. She proved to be a good helper!
Brita had many orders of hand-tied Valentine flowers to make for both The Corson Building and Kobo as well as other larger arrangements for clients so I got to lend a hand making flowers again.
It was fun to get into the swing of things and so cheerful to use yellow instead of the traditional pinks and red.
We arranged flowers at Old Chaser Farm where this furriest of all cows was born. We’ve had Scottish Highland cows in the past but never one with hair this long! Too cute for words.
Overnight the Colvos Bluff House air B & B was transformed from this stunning sunset view to this snowy wonder in the morning! The elegant rock pool and waterfall make for cooling summer swimming as well as an invigorating winter cold plunge! After the others braved it I tried the cold plunge ( even on the snowy days ) and felt so good overall. It helps to have a hot shower to run into outside.
A surprising snow cat Valentine was made by a neighbor for Jura and Adieith.
Little satsumas were tied into the mylar hanging on the heart. Love that cat’s face – such a kind & thoughtful gift – especially for little Jura who loves cats and couldn’t stop meowing at it when she found it on the driveway.
A couple views of this well pruned weeping willow at the home of the cat sculptor. Their garden is beautiful and has the most impressive green roof I’ve ever seen. I have included summer photos of it in newsletters in the past.
The snow only made the happy yellow blossoms more cheerful. I was luckily trapped on Vashon when the snows came after helping Brita with Valentine flowers.
Kitchen Blessing Pattern by Leah Nguyen – print for sale on line
I’m hoping to be able to start offering classes again in the spring. Much will depend on how the vaccine numbers rise. We’d want to have classes in open air / good circulation like the cover hoop or potting shed greenhouse with the doors open, while folks continue to wear masks.
This top I made using a tie dye Indonesian fabric accented with plenty of handwork along the neckline, hem and sleeve edge. It was just added to the market page mentioned below.
Sheila has been busy making a special order bird bath for a client so while at it she made a few more on spec. These baths and a few others will be listed on the Art & Crafts Market page and will be ready by mid April after curing.
We still have a small on line Arts & Crafts Market through the website which has some art work, clothing, soaps, cards, birdbaths & woodwork.
I’ll be adding other artists to this for a Spring Collecion coming in late March.
I hope you have all managed to stay well and are finding sanity through your garden, reading, crafting, cooking or whatever else helps you find balance.
I bought myself and ebike and being able to do my errands that way is delighful – a great way to exercise.
Spring Dreams are in the air,
Mary Fisher
Cultus Bay Gardens – Whidbey Island
360-579-2329