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.

September in Seattle

Brighton in September 2013
 

Chrysanthemum & Dahlia in Columbia City in September 2013 

Downtown Seattle on 5th Avenue in September 2013

Saint James Cathedral on 1st Hill in September 2013

 

 Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Fir) along Lake Washington in Seward Park in September 2013

September 2013 in Seattle was warmer & much wetter than normal. The mean temperature was 63.2F/17.3C.  The normal mean temperature is 61.6F/16.4C.  The highest temperature was 93F/33.9C, the lowest 45F/7.2C.  Total precipitation was 5.01 inches/127.25mm, which set a record for the month of September.  Normal precipitation is 1.52 inches/38.61mm.  The previous record was 2.9 inches/73.66mm in 2010.  There were 3 days with heavy rain, 4 days with rain, 18 days with light rain, 9 days with fog, 7 cloudy days, 20 partly cloudy days & 3 fair days.  The high temperature of 93F/33.9C on 9/11 was a shock after a summer with very few hot days.  It was 80F/26.7C the day before & 78F/25.6C the day after.  The heavy rain (3.1 inches/78.74mm) that fell 9/28-30 was also a surprise.  So much rain in just a few days usually happens only in winter.

Volunteer Park Conservatory in September

The new ticket vending machine (near the entrance) in the palm house in September 2013

The seasonal display house in September 2013

The cactus house in September 2013

The fern house in September 2013

The bromeliad house in September 2013

Click here for more photos of Volunteer Park.

The Volunteer Park Conservatory is always a pleasure.  In September 2013, I found two major changes.  Following the results of a 2012 study Seattle Parks and Recreation conducted to identify a more financially stable model for operating the Conservatory, the City adopted the $4 adult entry fee beginning on February 1, 2013.  Also, the center of the seasonal display house had been cleared & paved, with a few benches & planters set in a symmetrical pattern.  I liked the open space, which had been cluttered before.  But I thought the planters were tacky.  The planting design is consistently excellent, better than I have seen in any other conservatory. 

Built in 1912, the Conservatory is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The Volunteer Park Conservatory is open except on Mondays, even on holidays, from 10 to 4.  Summer hours are 10 to 7. 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 interesting.  The seasonal displays are changed 6 times each year.  Plants are often replaced in all of the houses.

I think Volunteer Park is the greatest park in Seattle.  Not only is the park beautiful, but it has a number of first-rate attractions including the conservatory, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Isamu Noguchi's Black Sun & the panoramic view from the Water Tower.  The park is easily reached from Downtown Seattle by the 10 Capitol Hill bus, which stops at the park.

September Garden Pictures

Echinops ritro September 2012

Hydrangea arborescens September 2012

Paeonia suffruticosa September 2012

Sorbus forrestii September 2012

Pieris japonica 'Variegata' September 2012

September 2012 in Seattle was warmer & much drier than normal.  The mean temperature was 62.7F/17.1C.  The normal mean temperature is 61.3F/16.3C.  Total precipitation was 0.03 inches.  Normal precipitation is 1.5 inches.  The highest temperature was 90F/32.2C, the lowest 46F/7.8C.  There were 5 days with light rain, 9 days with fog, 4 days with haze, 4 cloudy days, 11 partly cloudy days & 15 fair days.  This followed an August that was also warmer than normal & with no measurable precipitation.  The last significant rain fell on July 20.  The landscape became very dry & dusty.  Air quality was poor.  Numerous wildfires were reported in the the State of Washington, east of the Cascade Mountains.

The Wildlife News reported on September 23, 'The immediate cause of the fires is ignition and plenty of dry fuel, but the dryness itself after June is explained by a persistent and huge ridge in the polar jet stream over the Western United States.  This has kept all but thunderstorms at bay in the West, but pushed storm after storm over SE and Central Alaska, causing record summer flooding up there. Changes in the jet stream are one of the things that you would predict with the Arctic Ocean melting as it has. There is no longer the temperature differences between the polar side and southern side of the jet to keep it relatively tight and symmetrical.  The result is the development of huge and persistent troughs in the jet stream carrying strong rainstorms coupled with equally large and scantly moving ridges of dry, dry weather. With the Arctic melt, the current situation of extremes might be irreversible.'

September Garden Pictures & Bloom Times

Achillea millefolium 'Terracotta' & Yucca filamentosa 'Bright Edge' September 2011

Agapanthus africanus September 2011

Calluna vulgaris 'Wickwar Flame' & Hebe x pimeleoides 'Quicksilver' September 2011

Eucomis comosa September 2011

 Hydrangea arborescens September 2011

Below is a list of plants that began to bloom in my garden in Seattle in September 2011. I recorded the date when the 1st flower opened, not when they were in bud. I think this information is helpful in planning your garden. If you have room for more plants that bloom in August, you can choose something new that will bloom with something you have, or you can fill temporal gaps between blooms.  Nurseries in Seattle usually sell plants when they are in bloom. I have included dates from previous years. Weather conditions probably account for most of the difference in bloom times. September 2011 was  warmer & drier than normal.  The average monthly maximum temperature was 73.5F/23C.  The normal average monthly maximum temperature is 70.5F/21.4C.  The highest temperature was 85F/29.4C, the lowest 46F/7.8C.  We had 1.29 inches of rain, 0.21 less than normal.  It rained on 11 days.  There were 11 cloudy days, 10 partly cloudy days & 11 sunny days.

09-02-11 Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

09-03-11 Cyclamen hederifolium 9-10-10, 9-01-08

09-05-11 Eryngium amethystinum 9-03-10

09-26-11 Arbutus unedo 9-28-10, 9-20-08

09-26-11 Asternovae-angliae 'Hella Lacy' 9-28-10, 9-29-08