Category: Gardening

Winter at the South Seattle College Arboretum

This 5.5 acre little gem of a garden rose from a former site of sand and gravel storage to become a place for horticulture students to learn and the public to enjoy. Today it features a conifer collection, a rose garden, a sensory garden with fragrant specimens, water features, a gazebo, Sequoias, Japanese maples, walking paths and little bridges. It is also adjacent to the authentic Chinese Garden, which includes special rocks from China and a peony garden. The area stands on high ground in West Seattle and there is a peek-a-boo view of the Seattle skyline.

Even in winter there is plenty of life to see. Conifers range from dark green to blue, tall and short, with textures of long needles and short tight bundles.

The Chief Joseph pine is my favorite, with its winter coat of neon yellow.

Winter elevates the colors and forms of branches to the front. No leaves hide the arches and bark colors, and catkins sway in the breezes. It is the season when red and yellow-twig dogwoods show their real beauty. It was very quiet on the cold day that I visited recently, and I did not find many birds. But I recall that once on a Christmas bird count there, I found a hermit thrush.

The arboretum is ever evolving, as the students and designers work add and tweak the plantings.

Fall Colors

A crisp sunny day in late October, just before the rains return, seemed the perfect window to visit Kubota Garden, a short drive from my home. Almost a year to the date, I returned to this Japanese style garden, created by Fujitaro Kubota in the 1920s.

Kubota’s Legacy

Kubota emigrated from Japan and started his own gardening business. His notable projects included Seattle University and Bloedel Reserve, among many others. He initially purchased five acres to begin his lifelong work, and expanded it to 30 acres a few years later. Sadly, as with others of Japanese descent, he had to leave his business and garden during World War II, when he was sent to in internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho. I drove by a sign for Minidoka, on a recent road trip. I immediately recognized the name as a camp site. I had visited a similar camp at Manzanar, California years ago.

Kubota was lucky. Many Japanese lost everything when sent to the camps. Kubota was able to return to his land and rebuild his business with his sons.

Today the garden is owned and managed by the Seattle Parks department and the Kubota Garden Foundation. Admission is free. The high seasons are spring and fall, when the colors lure visitors in droves.

Here are some of the delights I found.

Wasp nest