Scientific name: Ailianthus altissma Common name: Tree of Heaven, Stinking Sumac, Paradise Tree Family: Simaroubaceae Native Range: Taiwan and China, hardy to USDA Zone 4 Habit: Grows between 60-90 feet tall and can grow to around 25 feet in a single year. The bark is smooth and tan to gray in early growth. With age, bark will become rugged with heart-shaped leaf scars.  ..read more

Rare Care staff, volunteers and agency partners convened in June in the southeastern corner of the state for Rare Care’s annual monitoring weekend. Our goal was to help US Forest Service assess the impact of the 2021 Lick Creek wildfire on sensitive plant species. Located on the northeastern flank of the Blue Mountains, the Lick Creek area has some of the highest concentration of rare plants on the Washington side of the mountains.  ..read more

Rare Care’s team expands each spring when we are joined by seasonal staff who assist with field work to support the recovery of endangered plants and restoration of their habitats. This year we were thrilled to be able to hire five talented biologists, and their experience, enthusiasm and hard work were a tremendous asset to our team. Teddy Pierson joined us for the entire field season and assisted with the Wenatchee Mountains checker-mallow introductions (Sidalcea oregana var.  ..read more

Five years ago, Rare Care established vegetation plots in a population of Wenatchee Mountains checker-mallow (Sidalcea oregana var. calva) to evaluate how to control the spread of shrubs and non-native grasses in its habitat. This federally endangered plant grows in flat, seasonally wet meadows in Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, or aspen forest openings, and is known from only two large and two very small extant populations in the Wenatchee Mountains.  ..read more

Join us for a FREE public opening of art installation, UNION, a stunning largescale outdoor sculpture created by one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, Seattle-based John Grade.  ..read more

Hi everyone! My name is Alex and I’m the UW Farm Campus Food Systems intern for summer and fall quarters here at the UW Farm. I’m also going into my second year at UW, planning to major in Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health. This is my first time writing for the UW Farm newsletter, and I would like to talk about an unanticipated memorable experience: harvesting fruit from our asian plum trees.  ..read more

Scientific name: Cornus mas  Common name: Cornelian cherry, European cornel, Cornelian cherry dogwood Family: Cornaceae (Dogwoods) Native range: Southern and central Europe to western Asia Location: At the Center for Urban Horticulture, there is a grove located in the northern lawn area along the central drive and the trees’ accession numbers are 87-90. At the Arboretum, there are three specimens under the accession number of 704-38 (grid 33-B) from the original planting of the Woodland Garden in 1938.  ..read more

The horticulture staff at the Washington Park Arboretum are constantly planting new trees. These new plantings increase species diversity within the collection, succeed dead or declining trees, contribute to future increased canopy coverage and much, much more. All of the trees mentioned in this article were planted over the last year and are located within the Pinetum on the west side of Lake Washington Boulevard.  ..read more

Hardy Fuchsia love sun and do fine in part shade.  Once established they tend to be drought hardy plants – I have one in my yard that I never water in summer and it has thrived over the past 15 years.  They are the hardiest species of the Fuchsia genus and are rated for USDA Zones 6 & 7 ..read more

1)    Libertia peregrinans                                                             New Zealand Iris An iris in which each bloom only lasts a day, but blooms prolifically for several weeks. Named/honored after Mde. Maire-Anne Libert, a Belgian botanist, mycologist, and plant pathologist. Has sword-shaped leaves, only about one foot high off the ground, and easy-to- miss blooms. Found in the New Zealand Entry Garden, at the north ..read more