Urban Landscape, Native Landscape: April 2014

Friday, April 25, 2014

Boardman Lake Trail

Boardman Lake Trail August 2012

Lake Evan on the Boardman Lake Trail August 2012

Fungus on the Boardman Lake Trail August 2012

Boardman Lake August 2012

Click here for more photos of the Boardman Lake Trail.

The Boardman Lake Trail is a pleasant & easy hike in the Cascade Mountains of Washington along the Mountain Loop Highway. The way is densely forested. There are 2 lakes here. First comes Lake Evan, then Boardman Lake. I wouldn't say this is the most spectacular hike in the area. But the trail is only 2 miles round trip & 200 feet in elevation gain. In August, there were lots of ripe huckleberries around Boardman Lake. It was pretty there. At the highest point, the trail reaches 3,000 feet (914 meters) in elevation.

Friday, April 18, 2014

New Holly Youth & Family Community Garden

New Holly Youth & Family Community Garden in August 2013

The New Holly Youth & Family Community Garden is another charming garden located in the City of Seattle Power Line Right of Way on land owned by Seattle City Light adjacent to the Chief Sealth Trail. The New Holly Power Garden is located not far to the south. This is a very well-sited, well-designed & well-tended garden of 50 plots on 5,000 square feet. I found the gardeners very friendly when I visited this place. They are clearly very happy to garden here. The garden was established in 1999, rebuilt in 2006 & expanded in 2011.

Friday, April 11, 2014

March in Seattle

Chaenomeles (Quince) in Columbia City

Hyacinthus (Hyacinth) in Rainier Vista

Narcissus 'Beersheba' (Daffodil) in Rainier Vista

Ranunculus (Buttercup) in Columbia City

Ribes sanguineum (Flowering Currant) in Columbia City

March 2014 in Seattle was warmer & very much rainier than normal. In fact, a record was set for rainfall in March at 9.44 inches/239.78mm. The previous record had stood at 8.40 inches/213.36mm since 1950. Normal rainfall is 3.72 inches/94.49mm. The mean temperature was 48.5F/9.17C. The normal mean temperature is 46.5F/8.06C. The highest temperature was 66F/18.89C on 3/24, the lowest was 34F/1.11C on 3/22. 15 days had highs over 55F/12.78C. There were 2 days with heavy rain, 10 days with rain, 21 days with light rain, a trace of snow on 3/1, 20 days with fog, 16 cloudy days, 14 partly cloudy days & 1 fair day. In spite of all the rain, there were periods with sun & 16 days with very little or no rain.

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.