Category Field Notes

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…

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…

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…

Lynne Widdis Harrison 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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 from…

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…

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.…

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…