Spring in the Pacific Northwest, Part II

Here's the second post about my recent trip to the Pacific Northwest. After spending time in Portland, we made our way up to the Seattle area. Our first stop was in Renton at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, aka Seattle Seahawks practice facility. As you all know, I'm much more interested in plants than I am in turf, but even I enjoyed this stop.

We got to peek in the indoor practice field which was HUGE. Nike was filming a commercial of some sort while we were there, so we had to sneak in between takes. The outdoor practice fields had a great view of Lake Washington, but it was pretty overcast that day so my pictures aren't that great.

We got back on the bus and headed up to Seattle and met Nolan Rundquist, the city arborist, for a walking tour of the city. It was really interesting to hear about all of the challenges his team faces trying to grow trees in an urban setting. Here's a shot of us on the tour. Of course I just had to put up this particular photo because of the Dahlia Lounge sign, given my love for dahlias.

The euphorbias that we saw all over the city were amazing. I wish we could grow these here in Florida, but I've heard that they're prone to powdery mildew.

I really loved the color and texture combinations in this bed.

The next day we got a tour of Qwest Field where the Seattle Seahawks play, and a tour Safeco Field where the Seattle Mariners play. I have to say, it was pretty freakin' cool to get to walk on the fields. I mean, how many times do most people get do that? Plus, I've been a big baseball fan since I was a kid, so this was a real treat for me. Here's one of my favorite shots looking down the third base line at Safeco Field.

But y'all want to see pictures of plants, right? Fear not! The plant jackpot came when we headed up the road to Bellevue Botanical Garden. It was a delightful garden full of all sorts of fabulous plants in stunning combinations like this one, which I think was a gold sedge and Ophiopogon nigrescens. I'd love to come back and see this garden as it changes from season to season.

Check out this beautiful Japanese forest grass (likely Hakoenechloa macra 'All Gold'). Isn't it beautiful? Sadly, I've also heard that this one won't thrive here in Florida. Sigh.

I loved this Cotinus for its striking contrast between the foliage and the flowers. I'm wondering if we can succesfully grow smokebush in Florida. My trusty Southern Living Garden Book says it can be grown as far south as Georgia, but I'm thinking that Florida might be a little too warm for it.

The garden also had tons of ferns, and I've been a sucker for ferns ever since college. They're so primitive and yet so fascinating!

We also saw lots of primroses throughout our journeys in the Pacific Northwest. This was a fairly new plant for me.

Well, that's all for now. The final installment will include the photos I took when we went up to Victoria, British Columbia and visited Butchart Gardens. If you've never seen photos of Butchart, you're in for a treat. I promise the next post will be chock full of bold plant combinations for all of you daring gardeners!

Spring in the Pacific Northwest, Part I

Portland, OR -- The City of Roses

I promised to post about my vacation to the Pacific Northwest, so here goes. I took a lot of photos, so I'll try to pick only the best ones to share with all of you plant lovers. Let's start with the highlights from around Portland, OR -- The City of Roses.

Our first stop was the Nike Worldwide Headquarters campus in Beaverton, OR. We were treated to a presentation by the landscape architect and then had a walking tour of the campus. The landscape was designed with a berm around the entire property, which effectively created a beautiful environment that feels totally separate from the surrounding city of Beaverton.

Allee and fountain at Nike World Headquarters

I developed my newest plant crush while we were at Nike: hellebores. I just loved the form of them, and their texture was unique in that it was papery. (Note: a little digging on the internet revealed this because what looks like petals are actually sepals.) We ended up seeing a lot of these throughout the trip in a number of  different shapes and colors.

Hellebore at Nike World Headquarters

Hellebore at Portland Rose Garden

More hellebores at Portland Rose Garden

We Floridians had a hard time resisting a few of the perks of spring in Northern climates -- fragrant lilacs and soft, feathery lawns.

Scratch and sniff

Real grass!

Our next stop was Berry Botanic Garden, which was a truly amazing place for a plant nerd like me. The gardens were originally the private estate of Rae Selling Berry, a plantswoman who collected rare plants from across the globe. After her death in 1976, a dedicated group of people banded together to form "The Friends of The Berry Botanic Garden" to purchase the estate and preserve the gardens. Sadly, financial woes are forcing the garden to close, so it's rather fortunate that we had the chance to see it. Such a shame, really. It's an amazing garden. (For some reason I can't find my pictures of their trough gardens, which were pretty cool.)

Dawn redwood at Berry Botanic Garden

These beautiful blue flowers are on striking three-foot tall stalks. We had seen them at Nike, as well. Our docent at Berry Botanic Garden told us that they're native bulb called Camassia, and that the Native Americans used to eat them.

Camassia at Berry Botanic Garden

And of course, there were tons of beautiful ferns including this lovely maidenhair fern.

Maidenhair fern on nurse log

Then we headed to Washington Park, International Rose Test Garden, and the Japanese Garden where we were set loose to pursue free-for-all, self-guided tours. I'd been to the Japanese Garden before on a previous trip, so Jason and I decided to poke around the rose garden and the park. Plus, it had been a full day and it seemed like it would be nice to just wander and relax.

Amphitheater in Washington Park

This is where I discovered another one of my other plant crushes -- these large shrubs that put off a wonderfully soft, sweet smell. At first I thought they might be a hydrangea of sorts, but it turns out they're a viburnum.

Viburnum in Washington Park

And here are some of the yet-to-be-blooming roses in the rose garden. I'm imagining what this would look and smell like come mid-summer. Amazing, I'm sure!

Rose garden

Well, that's about all the time I have for now. Here's one last shot from the Portland Rose garden. They actually had what looked like bananas and brugmansias in this garden, but they were pretty puny at this point in the spring and not at all worth taking a picture of. I promise that the next posts will feature more of the bold plant combinations that you've come to expect from Cannas and Bananas.

Sun dial in Shakespeare Garden in the Portland Rose Garden