Leaf Appreciation at Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden-Garden Fing 2024
Garden Fling 2024 Puget Sound has wrapped up and after spending a few days on post trip garden clean up and watering I have started to work though the hundreds of photos I took visiting the lineup of splendid gardens into which we were welcomed. My posts here on the blog will appear in no particular order and reflect no hierarchy of preference.
Day two of the Fling began with a visit to Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way Washington. This garden was founded in 1974 on 27 acres of property donated to the RSF by Weyerhauser Company. Currently the garden comprises 22 acres in a classic PNW forested woodland and boasts the largest collection of Rhododendron species worldwide.
The Rhodies flowering is long past-in my area of Northern California it's an April/May event depending on the location and proximity to the coast and the Redwood forests. But if you are in the right climate, up in the PNW the foliage gifts us another season. I can't name these plants other than generic IDs- Rhododendron, fern, Begonia and so forth. These photos will have to speak for themselves. The leaves pulled me in. I hope you'll enjoy them as I did.
I love your photos. They're as exotic to me as rare orchids or Amazonian epiphytes. I loved walking through the garden without knowing what I was looking at.
ReplyDeleteIt was not a bad thing to be able to ID so many plants in this garden since I can't grow most of them here anyway !
DeleteTotal leaf appreciation! Love all the greens and textures.
ReplyDeleteSometimes leaves are taken for granted !
DeleteThat's a great exercise in leaf appreciation, Kathy. Over time our friend Loree has convinced me that there's much more to Rhododendrons than flowers, although that discovery probably doesn't change the fact that there are very few species I can grow. Sadly, the same is mostly true of ferns. However, my visit to the RSBC and other gardens in the Puget Sound area has elevated my respect for both, as well as many other woodland plants.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a little rough coming back from the PNW .Rhododendrons are commonly sold and grown up here but they never look like the plants in this garden !
DeleteThose cinnamon-colored rhododendron leaves were a favorite of mine.
ReplyDeleteMine too Pam ! I took sooo many photos of those in particular.
DeleteThose are beauties. Wow. Thanks for sharing! I'm going to scroll through again to see the lovely foliage of these amazing plants. Sorry I missed the Fling this year.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed Beth -hope you are able to get a good taste of Fling through all the posts and photos upcoming from this years' enthusiastic group !
DeleteYou could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard one of our group dismiss this garden as not interesting to them since they couldn't possibly grow any of the plants in their garden. What?! How could you not love seeing such colorful interesting foliage? So sad for them.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine limiting garden touring to places that display only stuff I can grow. I might as well stay home and look at my own plants. And of course there is the excitement of rolling the dice and planting things you aren't supposed to be able to grow -sometimes one is pleasantly surprised !
DeleteI loved the lighting that morning, filtering down through the trees and playing off the leaves. It certainly made for some beautiful photography. Of course, I adore that white variegated Primulina (?) the most (6th photo from the top), but you can't go wrong with all the rhododendron and fern foliage either. I wonder if the powdery white leaved rhododendron is the infamous Golfer that Loree bought for her birthday?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Loree will verify ! And yes, the light was so soothing ,so quiet. Primulina I will look up-I was pretty clueless as far as plant ID went here.
DeleteYour excellent photos bring that forest back to me--I loved it, loved walking under those trees on soft spongy, ground. Beautiful place, going around a bend in a path and suddenly meeting an Acer palmatum set aglow by a shaft of sunlight--magic. The Rhodies with leaves flaunting their rusty backsides, and the fuzzy leafed ones! Flowers not always necessary.
ReplyDeleteYes to soft spongy ground ! One of the experiences I love when I go out to the Mendocino coast .
DeleteI love this garden, I just wanted more time. Your lovely photos bring back the memories, yes the rusty rhododendrons were amazing!
ReplyDeleteMore time is always needed ! I always look for opportunities to revisit , and at least the PNW is a reasonable distance for a few days trip.
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