Urban Landscape, Native Landscape: Lincoln Park

Friday, November 28, 2014

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park October 2011

Arbutus menziesii (Madrona) in Lincoln Park October 2011

Lincoln Park is probably the most popular park in West Seattle. It is one of the largest in Seattle at 135 acres. It has a number of attractions including trails, picnic shelters, playing fields, views of Puget Sound, the Colman Pool & a long beach. There are a number of old growth Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) at the top of the bluff in a park-like setting. The most natural part of the park is the bluff, with fine specimens of Madrona (Arbutus menziesii) & the thin strip of beach with many large driftwood logs. Unfortunately, the wide path between the bottom of the bluff & the beach, is paved in asphalt. Lincoln Park is an interesting mix of nature & human development. The most quirky elements are the Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) groves in the upper area of the park. Why were these trees planted & why so many? Lincoln Park is located next to the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal in the neighborhood of Fauntleroy. The small Fauntleroy business district, with a few restaurants, is nearby.

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About This Blog

This blog began in 2008 as Metropolitan Gardens to provide information on gardening in Seattle & places like it. Click on Gardening in Cascadia. The blog expanded to include Parks P-Patches Public Gardens in the US, Canada & Europe. Then Nature was added. (The difference between nature & gardens is intent. Nature happens. Gardens are planned.) Many recent posts are not about Seattle, or even Cascadia. They are Urban Landscape: streetscape & architecture. Cascadia is the region including the Cascade Mountains of Washington & Oregon. If you want to contact the blogger, leave a message in comments. Comments are moderated & private messages will not be posted.

Our Land & Climate

The city of Seattle rests between 2 bodies of water: Puget Sound & Lake Washington. Puget Sound is a substantial part of the Salish Sea & a very small part of the Pacific Ocean. The Salish Sea is set apart from the Pacific by the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington & Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. The dense, wet clouds of the Pacific Ocean travel as far as the Cascade Mountains, near the Salish Sea & not very far from the ocean. East of the Cascades lies the desert of the Columbia Basin. The moist, temperate climate of Seattle extends south to northern California & north to southeastern Alaska. The Pacific Northwest Coast from San Francisco Bay to Cook Inlet shares a flora dominated by evergreen coniferous forest. The central portion, west of the Cascade Mountains, is called Cascadia. The climate is cool & wet from fall to spring, warm & dry in summer. The Olympic Mountains block Seattle from much of the Pacific rainfall. Seattle is drier than the Atlantic coast of North America & northern Europe, cooler in summer & warmer in winter. It lies near the latitude of Paris & Quebec City.