November in Seattle

These photos were taken in Sodo in November 2014.  Sodo stands for south of downtown & is also spelled SoDo & SODO.  It is the part of the Duwamish Industrial Area south from the Stadium District to Georgetown, between Beacon Hill & the Duwamish River.  It is a place filled with trucks, trains & old warehouses.  There are also stores, restaurants serving lunch to the people who work here & very few residences.

November 2014 in Seattle was slightly warmer & significantly drier than normal.  The mean temperature was 46.  The normal mean temperature is 45.4.  Total precipitation was 4.84 inches.  Normal precipitation is 6.57 inches.  The highest temperature was 62 on 11/6.  The lowest was 23 on 11/30.  There was 1 day with heavy rain, 5 days with rain, 15 days with light rain, 1 day with light snow, 16 days with fog (2 of them with visibility at less than 1/4 mile) 15 cloudy days,  7 partly cloudy days & 8 fair days.  November 2014 had an unusually high number of fair days.  There was a cold spell  of 7 days with lows between 28 & 32 from 11/12 to 11/18.  These days were 6 to 9 degrees below normal for each of those days.  Then 0.8 inches of snow fell on 11/29.

This is the last post on the weather in Seattle.  Future posts on various topics will be scheduled on the 1st Friday of every month.       

McGilvra Place

Bullitt Center in January 2014

 McGilvra Place in January 2014.  The trees are Platanus acerifolia (London Plane).

McGilvra Place in January 2014

Here you can see where they cut through the original retaining wall.

Here is a bioswale in front of the Bullitt Center where 15th Avenue used to exist.  All photos were taken in January 2014.

McGilvra Place is a small, tree-shaded triangle at the intersection of E Madison Street, E Pike Street & 15th Avenue.  McGilvra Place was created in 1901. The small triangle of land was named after John J McGilvra, whose home was on Lake Washington at the end of the road which became E Madison Street.  McGilvra Place was redeveloped in the spring of 2013.  The original park was lawn above a low concrete retaining wall, with 11 London Plane Trees (Platanus acerifolia) between the curbs & sidewalks.  The small stretch of 15th Avenue was closed to traffic & integrated into the existing park with paving & planting, partly as a bioswale.  Cuts were made in the retaining wall to allow stairs & a path through the center of the park.  Lawn was replaced with native plants.  Benches were set in place.

The Bullitt Center had been completed next to McGilvra Place in April 2012.  The Bullitt Center was designed to be the greenest commercial building in the world, energy & carbon neutral, with a water & sewage processing system that allowed the building to be independent of municipal water & sewage systems. Energy neutrality was achieved with a large solar panel array on the roof of the building, along with energy conservation measures that cut the building's energy consumption to approximately a third of a typical office building of similar size.

During the redevelopment of McGilvra Place, great care was taken to protect and celebrate eleven century-old London Plane trees on the site. Other improvements include transforming an adjacent street to a public plaza, replacing turf with native vegetation, installing park furniture made of reclaimed timber, and providing improved accessibility to the site. Construction began in February 2013 and was completed in April 2013. - See more at: http://www.bullittcenter.org/field/mcgilvra-place/#sthash.QF1I0Hh3.dpuf

During the redevelopment of McGilvra Place, great care was taken to protect and celebrate eleven century-old London Plane trees on the site. Other improvements include transforming an adjacent street to a public plaza, replacing turf with native vegetation, installing park furniture made of reclaimed timber, and providing improved accessibility to the site. Construction began in February 2013 and was completed in April 2013.
The project was undertaken through a public / private collaboration between Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Parks Foundation and the Bullitt Foundation.
- See more at: http://www.bullittcenter.org/field/mcgilvra-place/#sthash.QF1I0Hh3.dpuf

 

During the redevelopment of McGilvra Place, great care was taken to protect and celebrate eleven century-old London Plane trees on the site. Other improvements include transforming an adjacent street to a public plaza, replacing turf with native vegetation, installing park furniture made of reclaimed timber, and providing improved accessibility to the site. Construction began in February 2013 and was completed in April 2013.
The project was undertaken through a public / private collaboration between Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Parks Foundation and the Bullitt Foundation.
- See more at: http://www.bullittcenter.org/field/mcgilvra-place/#sthash.QF1I0Hh3.dpuf

During the redevelopment of McGilvra Place, great care was taken to protect and celebrate eleven century-old London Plane trees on the site. Other improvements include transforming an adjacent street to a public plaza, replacing turf with native vegetation, installing park furniture made of reclaimed timber, and providing improved accessibility to the site. Construction began in February 2013 and was completed in April 2013.
The project was undertaken through a public / private collaboration between Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Parks Foundation and the Bullitt Foundation.
- See more at: http://www.bullittcenter.org/field/mcgilvra-place/#sthash.QF1I0Hh3.dpuf

During the redevelopment of McGilvra Place, great care was taken to protect and celebrate eleven century-old London Plane trees on the site. Other improvements include transforming an adjacent street to a public plaza, replacing turf with native vegetation, installing park furniture made of reclaimed timber, and providing improved accessibility to the site. Construction began in February 2013 and was completed in April 2013.
The project was undertaken through a public / private collaboration between Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Parks Foundation and the Bullitt Foundation.
- See more at: http://www.bullittcenter.org/field/mcgilvra-place/#sthash.QF1I0Hh3.dpuf

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park October 2011

Lincoln Park October 2011

Lincoln Park October 2011

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. 

Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B15A

My old plot B29B, as I left it in October 2014.

The 4 photos above are of my new plot B15A in October 2014.

I stopped gardening plot B29B at Bradner Gardens Park in October 2014, when I moved most of the perennials to plot B15A & the Ornamental Border at Bradner Gardens Park.  I spent the season gardening both plots.  B15A was vacant & there were no new gardeners to take B29B.  B15A is considerably larger & sunnier.  I had great crops of bush beans, carrots & chard after amending the soil with Cedar Grove compost & composted steer manure.  I transplanted strawberries from another vacated plot in the spring.  They spread modestly.  I had planted 4 blueberry bushes at B29B in the spring of 2014, before I decided to move to B29A.  I transplanted them in October.

October in Seattle

A mid-century house.

A 1920s house with 2000s townhouses across the alley.

The former Colman School, now the Northwest African American Museum & Urban League Village Apartments.  This building was built in 1909 & is typical of Seattle schools built during that population boom.  Most have been replaced with modern structures.  This empty, historically black school was occupied by a group of 40 activists in 1985, who demanded the museum.  It was a long time coming.  The museum opened on the ground floor in 2008.  The apartments above offer affordable housing to people of any race.  The lawn in front of the building is Jimi Hendrix Park, which should be landscaped sooner or later.  A plan exists.  Jimi Hendrix was born & raised in Seattle, not far from here. 

Blue Dog Pond dog park.

A 1910s house with 2000s townhouses next door.  These photos were taken in October 2014 in the north Rainier Valley, in a part of the Atlantic neighborhood just south of Interstate 90.  It is a transitional area with vacant lots, older homes & newer townhouses built during the housing bubble that burst in 2008.  Plans for more townhouses now exist, with one project under construction.

October 2014 in Seattle was much warmer & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 58F/14.4C.  Normal mean temperature is 52.8F/11.6C.  Total precipitation was 6.75 inches/172mm.  Normal precipitation is 3.48 inches/88mm.  The highest temperature was 78F/25.6C on 10/6.  The lowest was 44F/6.7C on 10/26.  Highs were mostly in the 60s & lows were mostly in the 50s.  There were 5 days with heavy rain, 10 days with rain, 22 days with light rain, 20 days with fog (6 of them with visibility at less than 1/4 mile) 20 cloudy days, 9 partly cloudy days & 2 fair days.  Except for the first 7 days, it was a dark & rainy month. 

Fatsia japonica

Fatsia japonica on First Hill in Seattle in September 2013

Fatsia japonica 'Variegata' in the Alphabet District in Portland

Fastia japonica at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland 

Fatisa Japonica in the Pearl District in Portland.  The 3 photos above were taken in October 2014.

Fatsia japonica is a big & beautiful evergreen shrub, with large & distinctive, palmate leaves.  Interesting flowers, carried on broad panicles, resemble an explosion of golf balls.  Fruits are black.  As you would expect, Fatsia japonica is native to Japan & also Korea.  It is often grown in pots placed near entries to buildings, or on shaded patios, where there is enough room.  The size of the plant is limited by the size of the pot, but expect it to reach at least 5 feet tall & almost as wide.  Fatsia japonica can reach 20 feet in the ground.  It is an excellent plant for a large shade garden, lovely against the bare trunks of tall trees.  Fatsia japonica comes in variegated forms such as Fatsia japonica 'Variegata' & Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web'.  Too much sun will cause leaves to turn yellow.  Click here for more Japanese plants.

Brighton Playfield

Brighton Playfield/Playground in October 2013

Brighton Playfield is a fairly large park with more terrain & changes in elevation than you would expect from a playfield.  It covers more than 12 acres including a tennis court, basketball courts, restrooms, a playground & a large playfield.  It is attached to Aki Kurose Middle School.  This very pleasant space is often used by people in the Brighton neighborhood as a place to walk.   It is located at 6000 39th Avenue S in the Rainier Valley.  

English immigrants who purchased lots here in the 1880s named the neighborhood for a resort town in England.  The City of Seattle annexed the area in 1907. The Olmsted Brothers architectural firm recommended a park for the Brighton neighborhood in 1908.  In 1911, the residents of Brighton petitioned the Parks Board for a playfield. A series of bond issues resulted in the purchase of the Brighton Playfield in 1913. For 20 years, the playfield site was used as a construction camp for street graders, for gardens, and as a garbage dump. Development of the park began in 1930. In 1948, the Seattle School Board selected a site south of the Brighton Playfield for a junior high school. Part of the Olmsted Plan was for schools to be sited next to playfields to provide recreation for students. This information comes from Seattle Neighborhoods: Brighton Beach at HistoryLink.org.
 

Dishman Hills Natural Area

Amelanchier alnifolia (Sarvisberry)


Pinus ponderosa (Ponderosa Pine) in the Dishman Hills Natural Area October 2012


Dishman Hills Natural Area October 2012


Pinus ponderosa (Ponderosa Pine) in the Dishman Hills Natural Area October 2012


Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape)  All photos taken in October 2012.

Click here for more photos of Dishman Hills Natural Area.

The Dishman Hills Natural Area is a mixed Ponderosa Pine & Douglas Fir forest maintained by the Spokane County Parks and Recreation Department.  It consists of 530 acres just outside the City of Spokane.  It is a beautiful native forest, remarkably free of alien species.  The rock formations are also quite impressive.

Ponderosa Pine forest generally occurs on the driest sites supporting conifers in the Pacific Northwest. It is widespread & variable, appearing on moderate to steep slopes in canyons, foothills, & on plateaus or plains near mountains. Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) & Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) are the most common evergreen trees in this habitat.  The undergrowth can include dense stands of shrubs or, more often, be dominated by grasses, sedges, &/or forbs.  In the Dishman Hills Natural Area I saw Amelanchier alnifolia (Sarvisberry) Balsamorhiza sagittata (Arrowleaf Balsamroot) Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape) Physocarpus malvaceus (Mallow-leaf Ninebark) Symphoricarpos albus (Common Snowberry) & quite a lot of grass.

Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) is one of the most widely distributed pines in western North America.   Pacific Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa) ranges from the Fraser River of southern British Columbia, south through the mountains of Washington, Oregon & California. In the northeast part of its range it extends east of the Continental Divide Montana & south to the Snake River Plain in Idaho.  It is found primarily on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains & in mountainous areas of eastern Washington.

Seattle Japanese Garden

All photos were taken in September 2014.

Click here for more photos of the Seattle Japanese Garden.

The best known Japanese garden in the Seattle area is located the Washington Park Aboretum.  In 2010 the Seattle Japanese Garden celebrated its 50th anniversary.  In 1924 the Olmsted Brothers designed the University of Washington Arboretum.  By 1937 it was agreed that the arboretum needed a Japanese garden, a project not realized until end of the World War II, for obvious reasons.  The Arboretum Foundation began raising funds for the creation of the Japanese Garden in 1957. The Foundation asked Tatsuo Moriwaki of Tokyo Metro Parks to help guide the process. He selected Kiyoshi Inoshita & Juki Iida to design the project.  The design was finished in 1959.  Under the supervision of Juki Iida & Nobumasa Kitamura, construction began in March 1960 & was completed within four months. More than 500 large granite rocks from Snoqualmie Pass were used. Construction was done mostly by local Japanese-American gardeners including William Yorozu as the prime contractor for plants, Richard Yamasaki for stone setting, and Kei Ishimitsu for Garden structures.  The Seattle Japanese Garden was the earliest postwar public construction of a Japanese garden on the Pacific Coast.  It had a strong influence on the design of future Japanese gardens throughout the region.  The original tea house was burned by vandals in 1973 & reconstructed by Yasunori (Fred) Sugita in 1981.  A new gatehouse & community meeting room were completed in 2009.  The bronze gate was designed by Seattle sculptor Gerard Tsutakawa.

September in Seattle

The South Lake Union Streetcar at Lake Union Park

Old & new buildings side by side.

 Old buildings soon to be demolished.

These photos were taken in South Lake Union in September 2014.  This area is converting rapidly from warehouses to office buildings for the high tech industry, mostly Amazon.

September 2014 in Seattle was warmer & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 64.8F/18.2C.  The normal mean temperature is 61.3F/16.3C.  Total precipitation was 2.23 inches/56.64mm.  Normal precipitation is 1.5 inches/38.1mm.  The highest temperature was 90F/32.2C on 9/6, the lowest 50F/10C on 9/13.  There was one day with heavy rain, 3 days with rain, 13 days with light rain, 13 days with fog (one of them with visibility at less than 1/4 mile) 10 cloudy days, 9 partly cloudy days & 11 fair days.  It was a pleasant month with an unusual number of fair days & some beautifully foggy mornings.