Olympic Sculpture Park

 Eagle by Alexander Calder, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

Love & Loss by Roy McMakin, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011 

 Perre's Ventaglio III by Beverly Pepper, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

 Pocket beach, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

 Split by Roxy Paine, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

 Wake by Richard Serra, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

Wandering Rocks by Tony Smith, Olympic Sculpture Park April 2011

The Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle is a wonderful place.  There are views of  Puget Sound & the Olympic Mountains.  There is a remarkably realistic beach constructed in an area where the sea wall was removed.  There is sculpture.  There is an abundance of late 20th century & early 21st century architecture to be seen from the park.  There is a lot of open space divided into areas including a valley, meadows & a grove.  The grove is an excellent example of a traditional European bosque, with trees planted at equal distances with geometric precision.  These trees are native Populus tremuloides (Quaking Aspen) & quite a number of native forest plants grow in a natural fashion beneath them.  In fact, all the plants used in the Olympic Sculpture Park are native to Washington, making it the most impressive native plant garden in the state.  The Olympic Sculpture Park came about from a commitment by the Seattle Art Museum & the Trust for Public Land to preserve downtown Seattle's last undeveloped waterfront property. The museum purchased property on Seattle's central waterfront in 1999 with private and public funding.  92,986 cubic yards of dirt was removed from the site of SAM's downtown museum expansion project, and transported to the park for use as recycled fill in 2004. Construction of the Olympic Sculpture Park began in the summer of 2005 & was completed in 2006. The Olympic Sculpture Park opened to the public in January 2007.

May Garden Pictures

Acanthus syriacus May 2012

 Antirrhinum 'Dulcinea's Heart' May 2012

 Digitalis purpurea May 2012

 Geum 'Lady Stratheden' May 2012

Paeonia veitchii May 2012

May 2012 was slightly cooler & wetter than normal.   The mean temperature was 55.3F/13.1C.  The average mean temperature is 56F/13.3C.  The highest temperature was 80F/26.6C.  The lowest was 39F/3.8C.  Total precipitation was 2.05 inches.  Average total precipitation is 1.94 inches.  There were 15 days with light rain, 3 days with rain, 7 days with fog, 15 cloudy days, 10 partly cloudy days & 6 fair days.

Frye Art Museum Courtyard

Frye Art Museum April 2011

Frye Art Museum Courtyard Garden May 2011

Frye Art Museum Courtyard Garden May 2011

Frye Art Museum Entrance May 2011

Frye Art Museum Reflecting Pool May 2011

I love the Frye.  The museum is always free.  The exhibits are interesting.  The permanent collection has many beautiful paintings of a type seldom seen in US museums: romantic, 19th century & mostly German.  The Fryes collected paintings from the Munich Secession.  

The museum's Mission Statement: The Frye Art Museum is a living legacy of visionary patronage and civic responsibility, committed to artistic inquiry and a rich visitor experience. A catalyst for our engagement with contemporary art and artists is the Founding Collection of Charles and Emma Frye, access to which shall always be free.

The architecture is modern & impressive, but not overwhelming.  I particularly like the tall cylinder that is the foyer.  It gives me feelings of awe & tranquility.  For me, the best part of the Frye is the courtyard garden, an amazing work of modern, living, landscape art.  The garden can be seen from inside & outside the museum, particularly well from the museum cafe.  The courtyard also has a small amount of cafe seating.

April Garden Pictures

Bellis perennis & Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver' April 2012

Narcissus jonquilla April 2012

Paeonia mascula April 2012

Rhododendron campylogynum 'Celsum' April 2012

Tulipa 'Little Princess' April 2012

April 2012 was a normal month.  The mean temperature was 50.8F/10.4C.  The normal mean temperature is 50.3F/10.2C.  The highest temperature was 74F/23.3C, the lowest was 35F/1.7C.  Total precipitation was 2.68 inches.  Normal precipitation is 2.71 inches.   There was 1 day with heavy rain, 7 days with rain, 21 days with light rain, 1 day with hail, 15 days with fog, 2 days with haze, 21 cloudy days, 8 partly cloudy days & 1 fair day.

Victor Steinbrueck Park

Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Pike Place Market & Downtown Seattle from Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park, Alaskan Way Viaduct April 2011

Victor Steinbrueck Park isn't a very large park.  But there are very few parks in Downtown Seattle.  This is the only park in the Pike Place Market.  Here you can hang out with market regulars &, during the summer, hordes of tourists, especially when the cruise ships are in town.  There are places to sit at tables in the sun, which you might find in summer.  There are also sheltered benches, if you encounter rain.  There are excellent views of the market, Downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay & Puget Sound.  On a clear day, the Olympic Mountains are stunning.  Let me warn you that an easy way to annoy a native Seattleite is to ask for directions to Pike's Market.  While we've all heard this said, we are often inclined to answer that there is no such place.  The Pike Place Market is named for Pike Place (an extension of Pike Street) which runs through the market.  Pike Street was named for Seattle pioneer John Pike.  It bears no relation to Pike's Peak in Colorado.  But perhaps that peak is the source of confusion among tourists about the name of the market.

Victor Steinbrueck was a well-known advocate of historic preservation. A University of Washington alumnus & architecture professor, he opposed the city's redevelopment plans for the Pike Place Market & helped to establish the city's Pioneer Square Historical District during the 1960s. Steinbrueck's sketches of the market & other Seattle scenes appeared in his books Seattle Cityscape (1962) Market Sketchbook (1968) and Seattle Cityscape II (1973). Steinbrueck's work to save the Pike Place Market came in response to the city's plans to tear it down, along with other nearby structures. In response, Friends of the Market was formed in 1964, led by Steinbrueck. Their campaign resulted in a successful ballot initiative in 1971 which established a seven-acre Pike Place Market Historical District, saving it from demolition, & formed a commission to oversee it, on which Steinbrueck served.

March in Seattle

Ribes sanguineum March 2012

Hepatica americana March 2012

Pulmonaria longifolia 'Bertram Anderson' March 2012

Hacquettia epipactis  March 2012

Helleborus lividus March 2012

March 2012 was colder & much wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 43.1F/6.2C.  The normal mean temperature is 46.5F/8.1C.  The highest temperature was 60F/15.6C, the lowest 29F/-1.7C.  Total precipitation was 7.2 inches.  Normal precipitation is 3.72 inches.  There was 0.9 inch of snow.  There was 1 day with heavy rain, 9 days with rain, 24 days with light rain, 1 day with heavy snow, 2 days with snow, 4 days with light snow, 1 day with sleet, 19 days with fog, 23 cloudy days, 7 partly cloudy days & 1 fair day.

Xardín da Terraza Abandonada (Garden of the Abandoned Balcony)

 Xardín da Terraza Abandonada March 2012

I saw this abandoned apartment building in the Casco Vello de Vigo, Galiza.  Plants had spread from their pots to root on the floors of every balcony & into the many cracks of the facade to create a vertical garden of melancholy charm.  Although barely visible,  the containers were in place.  There are a number of abandoned buildings in the old city of Vigo.  But none other has been left in this condition.  I wonder what circumstances caused the residents to leave their potted plants behind.

Vin este edificio abandonado no Casco Vello de Vigo, Galiza. As plantas se espallou a partir dos seus vasos de enraizada nos pisos de cada terraza e nas moitas fendas do muro para crear un xardín vertical de encanto melancólico. Aínda que pouco visible, os vasos estaban no lugar. Hai unha serie de edificios abandonados na cidade vella de Vigo. Pero ningún outro se deixou nesta condición. Eu me pregunta o que fixo que as circunstancias os veciños a deixar os seus vasos de plantas para tras.

The second paragraph is a translation into Galego (Galician), an official language of Galiza (Galicia), along with Castellano (Spanish), and the first language of  local government.  There are 3 million speakers of Galego.

February Garden Pictures

Cyclamen coum February 2012

Euphorbia rigida February 2012

Helleburus x hybridus February 2012

Mahonia mairei February 2010

Stony slope February 2012

February 2012 was slightly colder & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 43.2/F/6.2C.  The normal mean temperature is 43.4F/6.3C.  The highest temperature was 61F/16.1C.  The lowest was 28F/-2.2C. Precipitation was 3.63 inches.  Normal precipitation is 3.5 inches. There was only a trace of snow.  There were 19 days with rain, 18 days with fog, 1 day with hail, 17 cloudy days, 9 partly cloudy days & 3 fair days.

Montagu Nature Garden

Aloe microstigma Montagu Nature Garden July 2009

Crassula rupestris & Euphorbia caput-medusae Montagu Nature Garden July 2009

Montagu Nature Garden July 2009

Langeberg Mountains from the Montagu Nature Garden July 2009

 Veltheimia capensis Montagu Nature Garden July 2009

Click here to see more photos of the Montagu Nature Garden.

In July of 2009 I spent 24 days in the Western Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa (RSA).  As you probably know, July is a winter month in the Southern Hemisphere, corresponding to January in the Northern Hemisphere.  But it is January as you might experience it in southern California.  The Western Cape Province has a Mediterranean climate.  It is dry in summer & rains in winter.  After 6 mostly rainy days in Cape Town, 6 mostly sunny days in the beach town of Hermanus, 6 days of variable weather in the small town of Bredasdorp on the Agulhas Plain, I spent 6 warm & sunny days in Swellendam.  My time in South Africa ended on the 24th day, when I flew from Cape Town to London. On my 4th day in Swellendam I saw the Montagu Nature Garden.  This garden is located in an environment known as klein karoo.   Klein karoo is found north of the Langeberg Mountains, fynbos is found to the south.

From my journal, 7-30-09:  I drove to Montagu through Cogman's Kloof Pass in the Langeberg Mountains.  As I entered Montagu, I saw signs for the nature garden.  There was an easy, winding path up a small, very rocky hill with many succulent plants.  I saw 3 species of Euphorbia, several Crassula & Aloe.  I also saw a red pea with inflated pods (Sutherlandia frutescens) & Veltheimia capensis in bloom.  The views of the Langeberg Mountains were stunning.

Marloth Nature Reserve

Protea aurea Marloth Nature Reserve July 2009

Metalasia Marloth Nature Reserve July 2009 

Elegia Marloth Nature Reserve July 2009 

Fynbos on the Langeberg Mountains at Marloth Nature Reserve July 2009 

Fynbos on the Langeberg Mountains at Marloth Nature Reserve July 2009

In July of 2009 I spent 24 days in the Western Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa (RSA).  As you probably know, July is a winter month in the Southern Hemisphere, corresponding to January in the Northern Hemisphere.  But it is January as you might experience it in southern California.  The Western Cape Province has a Mediterranean climate.  It is dry in summer & rains in winter.  After 6 mostly rainy days in Cape Town, 6 mostly sunny days in the beach town of Hermanus, 6 days of variable weather in the small town of Bredasdorp on the Agulhas Plain, I spent 6 warm & sunny days in Swellendam. On my 3rd day in Swellendam I went to the Marloth Nature Reserve.

From the website: Marloth Nature Reserve lies in the majestic Swellendam mountains, between the towns of Swellendam, Ashton, Barrydale and Suurbraak. The reserve is 14,123 hectares (34,900 acres) in extent and adjacent to the Swellendam State Forest. Swellendam is the third oldest town in South Africa and has many interesting cultural-historic features. Marloth Nature Reserve is named after the pioneer botanist who, together with a deputation of Swellendam residents in 1928 petitioned the Minister of Lands and Forestry to set aside a part of the mountain as a nature reserve. During 1981 the reserve was enlarged to include the rest of the State Forest land. The vegetation in the nature reserve is predominantly mountain fynbos with patches of afro-montane forest. The fynbos includes several species of protea and more than 25 species of erica. The original forests covered a much larger area but over the years exploitation for timber for the local furniture and wagon industries, and fires, reduced them to isolated patches in the damper kloofs (ravines).

From my journal, 7-29-09:  I drove to the Marloth Nature Reserve, which was very near Swellendam on the slopes of the Langeberg Mountains.  I walked through fynbos on the lower slope, then through forest beside a creek in a ravine.  There were tree ferns (Cyathea dregei) near the water.  2 juvenile baboons screeched, thrashed branches & stared at me from a tree across the creek.  I remembered a friend's story about being attacked by baboons in Hong Kong.  I picked up a big stick & carried it with me until I left the forest.