Roughly 200 close friends of Arboretum Director Emeritus John Wott gathered in the Arboretum on Sunday afternoon, October 2, to celebrate his tireless leadership, inspired teaching, and passionate advocacy for the Arboretum—and to dedicate a trail in the New Zealand Forest in his honor. It was a splendid sunny day, featuring bagpipe music, a ribbon cutting ceremony, and …
A Generous Grant: $75,000 for the NZ Forest The Arboretum Foundation is delighted to announce that last week we received a grant for $75,000 from an anonymous donor foundation to help pay for the construction of the New Zealand Forest project. So far, we have raised more than $1.1 million dollars in private funds as part of our …
Arboretum Hires New Gardener to Care for NZ Forest The Foundation is delighted to welcome Kathleen DeMaria to the Arboretum staff. Kathleen was hired by UW Botanic Gardens this summer as the new full-time gardener in charge of maintaining the New Zealand Forest at Pacific Connections. Her salary and benefits are being entirely funded by …
The Design of the New Zealand Forest The Arboretum’s new, 2-acre, New Zealand-themed eco-geographic forest is more than just forest! It is composed of seven distinct vegetation sections: two southern beech (Nothofagus) forests, three shrublands, and two alpine grasslands. All of them are modeled on actual plant communities found in mid- to high-elevation zones on the South …
New Zealand Forest Opening Celebration—September 15 The Arboretum Foundation, UW Botanic Gardens, and Seattle Parks and Recreation invite you to join us on Sunday, September 15, to celebrate the opening of the New Zealand Forest in the Washington Park Arboretum’s Pacific Connections Garden. Enjoy ribbon cutting and dedication ceremonies, live music and performances, tours and …
New Zealand Forest—Planting Starts in June! Construction of the two-acre New Zealand Forest at Pacific Connections got underway this past winter and is scheduled to be completed by the end of August. Currently, the contractor is finishing up the infrastructure portion of the project, including the construction of a bus turnaround on Arboretum Drive and the …
Allen Foundation Donates $100,000 to Pacific Connections In July, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation donated $100,000 to our new Pacific Connections Campaign. Though routed through their family’s charitable foundation, the donation came directly from Paul Allen and Jody Allen as a personal commemorative gift in honor of their mother, Faye Allen, who passed away …
Vandals Destroy Valuable Trees in Pacific Connections Garden Last Wednesday night, vandals caused significant damage to some highly valued plants in the Gateway to Chile section of Pacific Connections, using a hatchet or machete. They destroyed three Chilean wine palms, two monkey puzzle trees, and three Gunnera tinctoria. The total estimate of the damage is …
An End-of-Season Appeal Letter, from Walt Bubelis Walt Bubelis, beloved Professor Emeritus in the Horticulture Department at Edmonds Community College—and an Arboretum Foundation volunteer—has penned this year’s end-of-season appeal letter. Walt talks about his long relationship with Washington Park Arboretum, from his early days as a UW botany student to his current role as co-chair of …
New Bog Garden in the Arboretum The UWBG staff at the Arboretum is creating a new native bog garden in the future chaparral section of the Cascadia Forest in Pacific Connections, just north of the Gateway to Chile. Designed by the Berger Partnership, the bog garden is still in the early stages of development. Soil …