By guest writer McKenzie Toomey I sat down in the shade of the towering White Oak, and I watched the branches sway above me. The leaves rustled against each other in the wind, almost whispering to me. I rested my hands on the outcropping roots that grew nearly six feet out from the tree’s base, and I felt the energy that flowed through the tree, the energy that had created this mammoth of nature, the energy that sustained this ancient…
By Kate Sorensen What is “Plant Awareness Disparity”? Plant Awareness Disparity (PAD) is a term proposed by Kathryn Parsley to replace an older term: “plant blindness.” To summarize her proposal, there is a disparity between how Euro-centric people notice plants in their environment versus how they notice animals. This disparity is based on attention, attitude, knowledge, and relative interest towards plants. She wrote: “The disparity between how often people notice plants compared to how often people notice animals is what…
Leaf Magic by Barb Williams At every season of the year there is Leaf Magic to be found at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. You will find leaves of different colors, shapes and sounds. Treat yourself by sitting in the leaf chair opposite the Ground Cover Garden waterfall (this chair is actually an art piece titled “The Nature of Sitting” by artist Pam Beyette). As you sit, notice the colorful leaves as they whirl, dance and float to the ground during…
One Corner: Past and Present By Cynthia Welte Cal and Harriet Shorts’ home was built in 1957. As avid gardeners, they planted many trees and shrubs all around their home, including a Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) on the southwest corner of the patio. Sadly, this tree struggled as it aged, and had to be removed in 2002. The tree we planted in its place, Sorbus aria ‘Lutescens’, is a deciduous tree with large silvery leaves. It bears little resemblance…
The following post was part of a larger article in the Arnoldia Journal from the Arnold Arboretum about the impact of COVID-19 on botanical gardens. To see the complete article, go HERE. Haunted By That Day By Nancy Kartes, Garden Manager On January 21, 2020, our nation’s first case of COVID-19 was reported in the Seattle area, just a few miles from Bellevue Botanical Garden. I was not paying attention to the news. As garden manager, I was deep into…
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