Urban Landscape, Native Landscape: holidays

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Seattle Cherry Blossoms

Prunus serrulata in Madison Park April 2010

Prunus serrulata along Lake Washington Boulevard April 2010

Prunus serrulata in Mt Baker March 2010

Prunus serrulata in Knudsen Park April 2010

It is cherry blossom time in Seattle, as anyone here can tell you. Prunus serrulata has been blooming throughout the city for several weeks. The Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival will be held at Seattle Center in the Center House & Fisher Pavilion April 16-18, 2010. A stone lantern, located at Seward Park, was given to Seattle in 1929 by the citizens of Yokohama in gratitude for the aid Seattleites provided after the earthquake of 1923. The Seattle Japanese community then donated 3,500 cherry trees to Seattle to commemorate that gift. The trees were planted in Seward Park, along Lake Washington Boulevard & on the University of Washington campus. The Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates Japan's gift of 1,000 cherry trees to Seattle in 1976 as part of the U.S. Bicentennial celebration. Hanami (blossom viewing) has been an important spring rite in Japan for over 1,000 years.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Volunteer Park Conservatory

Seasonal Display House

Cactus House

Fern House

Bromeliad House

Palm House

Entrance

The Volunteer Park Conservatory is a welcome respite from the cold Seattle rain. It is open except on Mondays, even on holidays, from 10 to 4. Decorated for the holidays in early December, it is a charming place for a quiet stroll on Christmas or New Year's Day, unless those holidays fall on a Monday. The conservatory has 5 houses, each quite different. There are bromeliad, palm, fern, seasonal display & cactus houses. It is hard to say which is most lovely.

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.