Perfect Weather for Frogs
Will it ever stop raining?
Having spent the morning weeding the rock wall, I’ve discovered that my waterproofs are not as waterproof as they should be. While this deluge may forestall summer drought (we hope!), and is helpfully irrigating the …
Plants, People & Place
A decade of progress
Ten years ago, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe purchased Heronswood and just last week, the first plants were added to the S’Klallam Connections Garden, our most recent garden addition. Thanks to the tribe, Heronswood was saved …
Winter Wonderland
I’d like to thank you personally for an absolutely wonderful first year at Heronswood! I can’t imagine a garden that is a better fit to my interests and passions. With your help, we will finish the open season with record …
In Memoriam
1938-2021
The Heronswood family lost a cherished friend on September 21st 2021 in the passing of passionate gardener, gifted photographer, friend and garden supporter, Lynne Harrison. Many of you knew her and nearly all of you would …
Girls & Boys Come Out to Play
The signs are all there. Fall is on its way and our autumnal ensemble is beginning to bloom. No fall color on the trees yet, but the cyclamen are starting to flowers and as these tiny treasures appear around the …
The Genus of Beautiful Flowers
At a time of the year in the gardens of Heronswood when all eyes are focused on, and noses trained to, the astounding, skyrocketing, flowering stems of the magnificent, if not narcissistic, Himalayan Lilies, Cardiocrinum giganteum, the immense remainder of …
Wenatchee Classroom
A Cascade Adventure with Heronswood
One of the most important steps in continuing to grow and thrive as a botanical garden is providing a stimulating and intellectually challenging workplace. Heronswood is growing in new and exciting ways and this isn’t …
Many Knees at Heronswood
It was early on in my formative years that I became infatuated with what was then referred to as ‘woodland lilies’. Under the umbrella of the lily family, a rather good assemblage of numerous genera began to take shape in …
In Honor of Mothers
I am who I am because of the nurturing guidance and enthusiasm of my mother and grandmother. My love of plants began at a very early age. My mom would say I came out of the womb with Latin names …
Oregon Irises Inspire
Adventure and exploration is the reason I went into the field of plant taxonomy and ecology. I wanted to discover the wonders of this world and I wanted to understand how they were connected to all facets of their environment. …
Fire weeds, Willow herbs and the Silver Lining of Wild Fires
The Genus Epilobium
Over the past weekend, I had the immense pleasure 0f returning to the remarkable mountain ranges that encompass the southwestern corner of Oregon and northwestern California. It is hard to encapsulate the unique qualities of the flora …
Smoke and the Art of Phototropism
Two weeks ago, while entering Heronswood, I noted to myself how early the autumn color had arrived, particularly so in our big-leaf maples, Acer macrophyllum, along 288th St. This is a tree species whose autumn color intensity can vary …
Heronswood Biodiversity Audit
(10.01.20)
A SENTIMENTAL SOUND
During quiet moments of Heronswood’s open days in summer and those leading into fall, there’s often a sound that can be heard carrying over the distance of the parking lot that lasts mere seconds before going …
Novel Plants for Novel Times
What a year this has been!
Events in the world outside rarely penetrate the tranquility of this garden, but 2020 hasn’t played by the usual rule book. While this year’s plague of slugs and snails has been devastating in the …
Heronswood Biodiversity Audit
(09.15.20)
FLY FRIGHT
First impressions are undoubtedly difficult to dispel, especially at a young age when a child is trying to learn a bevy of subjects. The association of a mosquito to an annoying, high-pitched buzzing bug that causes itchy …
Heronswood Biodiversity Audit
(09.02.20) Spiders, Part III
A GLOW UPON THE GROUND
As many variable forms that spiders possess, there exist several different strategies to employ when catching prey. The passive hunters who wait combine elements of webbing, tunnels, and camouflage. Those less …
Fall-fruiting Frangula feeds our Feathered Friends
Is summer over?
The birds seem to think so. Robin numbers have sky-rocketed in the garden as birds that bred farther north start to move south. Some of the plants, too, are moving into their Fall fruiting or flowering seasons. …
Brilliant biennial blooms but briefly
Almost all the plants at Heronswood are perennials
Not herbaceous perennials, but perennials nevertheless. Woody trees, shrubs and vines are perennial, because they live for multiple years but when we hear the word “perennial”, we tend to think herbaceous. Herbaceous …
Heronswood Biodiversity Audit
(08.18.20) Spiders, Part II
A WEB OF UNSEEN HAZARDS
There’s nothing quite like the sensation of escaping the harsh sunlight of a summer afternoon and retreating to the cool understory of a forest. Once sweaty skin is now soothingly cool, …
Heronswood Biodiversity Audit
(08.05.20)
THE EYES HAVE IT
I’ve been reflecting on the ways humans anthropomorphize non-human organisms and it seems that there could be a correlation between leg count and the perceived threat of a life form to us. For example: our …