At a Glance Upcoming events and deals
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Seattle will soon be home to one of the most unique gardens and cultural centers in the county. The 4.6-acre Seattle Chinese Garden will be one of the largest Chinese gardens outside of China, showcasing not only plants, but also stone, architecture and water elements that are customary to Chinese gardens. Dense and complex, it will change dramatically with each season.
Located at South Seattle Community College, the Garden will reveal commanding views of downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay and the Cascade Mountains. The Garden will also feature 12 buildings, including an education center and a banquet hall with special event seating for up to 200 people. The 85-foot Floating Clouds Pavilion will soar over the Garden, placed on an axis with the Space Needle. As a major destination and cultural institution, the Seattle Chinese Garden will inspire new perspectives on world affairs and illuminate China and her cultural and economic influence on the Pacific Northwest.
Why not bring your experience and enthusiasm by volunteering with the Garden? Seattle Chinese Garden volunteers work with plants, help in our office and assist with programs and events. Sign up to volunteer in areas such as garden work, event planning, committee service, fundraising, and mailing parties. Check out the volunteer matching page to see if your company or employer will match your donation of time with cash grants to the Garden.
Come to the Seattle Dahlia Society 53rd Annual Show & Flower Sale on Sunday, September 5 from 11am – 4pm at Lake City Community Center, 12531 28th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125 (map). Over 1,000 blooms in all sizes & colors on display & gorgeous cut flowers for sale. Society members on hand to provide cultural information.
For more information, visit www.seattledahliasociety.org, 206-954-3336 or email seattledahliasociety@comcast.net.
If you’re looking for a place to walk, study, or express your artistic talents, visit the Washington Park Arboretum, a hidden gem on the shores of Lake Washington. The Graham Visitors Center has maps, restrooms, staff and Arboretum Foundation offices, a gift shop and meeting room. No matter what time of year you visit, you’ll find something of interest along the trails that wind through 230 acres of gardens, natural areas and wetlands, and a dynamic assortment of plants found nowhere else. Directions to Washington Park Arboretum.
The Washington Park Arboretum is free and open to the public daily from dawn to dusk.
The Graham Visitors Center, gift shop and public restrooms are open 9:00 AM-5:00 PM daily, except UW holidays.
The Japanese Garden is operated by Seattle City Parks and Recreation and has an admission fee. For information, call 206-684-4725 or visit their website.
Free guided walking tours of Olmsted-designed parks and boulevards are presented by Friend’s of Seattle’s Olmstead Parks (FSOP). Please join FSOP for a series of walking tours of Olmsted-designed parks and boulevards and a bike tour of Lake Washington Boulevard. All tours begin at 10:00 a.m. and last approximately two hours.
Upcoming walks:
Aug. 28, Jefferson Park
Sept. 26, bicycle tour of Lake Washington Boulevard. (Helmets required for the bicycle tour. This tour will be held on one of the “Bicycle Sundays” this summer on Lake Washington Boulevard. The boulevard is closed to traffic between Mount Baker Beach and Seward Park from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information visit: www.seattle.gov/parks/bicyclesunday.)
Oct. 16, Washington park Arboretum Pacific Connections Garden
FSOP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Seattle’s unique Olmsted landscape heritage and raising awareness of the Olmsted philosophy of providing open space for all people.
Seattle will soon be home to one of the most unique gardens and cultural centers in the county. The 4.6-acre Seattle Chinese Garden will be one of the largest Chinese gardens outside of China, showcasing not only plants, but also stone, architecture and water elements that are customary to Chinese gardens. The Garden will also feature 12 buildings, including an education center and a banquet hall with special event seating for up to 200 people. The Garden is being built in phases. Some site work has been done and next will be construction of the “Knowing the Spring Courtyard”, the second traditional structure in the Garden. Completion of the Courtyard is expected by end of 2010. Components for this courtyard will be fabricated in Chongqing, and assembly performed by Chinese artisans from Chongqing and local Seattle contractors.
Seattle Chinese Garden is hosting an Artisan Welcome Party Sunday, August 22 from 1–4 pm to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese artisans and welcome them to Seattle at a fun, festive, community event! You will get to see Courtyard Progress and the Garden Site and have the opportunity to talk with the Artisans (translators on hand) who are constructing the Garden. The public is invited to this free community event. There is a suggested donation of $5. The festivities include:
Lion Dance (1:40 pm)
Martial Arts by Tony Au International
Chinese Children’s Dances by the Melody Institute
Chinese Arts Demonstrations
Kite Flying and Family Activities
Directions: Drive into the north entrance to South Seattle Community College, 6000 16th Ave. SW (map). The college arboretum is on your left.
Parking: Continue driving straight ahead past the one-story building on your left (the Chan Education Center). Turn left into the entrance to a small parking lot for the Landscape Horticulture Building (LHO) and the Chan Center. Look for Chinese Garden signs directing you to an LHO classroom. If this parking lot is full, park in the large lot to the south.
About the Artisans
Feng Dacheng, lead designer from Chongqing, and Song Weizhong, chief architect and project manager for the Changshu Ancient Style Garden Construction Company, will guide courtyard construction. Local partners are construction firm Krekow Jennings and Jones and Jones Architecture.
Yangming Chu is the Garden Society’s project director. An expert on Chinese art history and architecture, Chu oversaw the first stage of courtyard construction in 2008, the building of the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden in 1998, and the Ming Courtyard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) has more than 30 years of activity and involvement in protecting native plants. The small group of individuals who assembled at the Pacific Science Center in 1976 has now grown to nearly 1800 members with eleven active chapters throughout Washington.
To join the WPNS, use the membership form. The form may printed and mailed with your dues check, or submitted online (see the form for payment options, including online credit card payments).
Membership benefits include Field trips to admire, study and photograph wildflowers and plant communities. There are also volunteer opportunities to help restore habitats, conduct native plant inventories, and monitor rare plant populations, and much more.
Seattle will soon be home to one of the most unique gardens and cultural centers in the county. The 4.6-acre Seattle Chinese Garden will be one of the largest Chinese gardens outside of China, showcasing not only plants, but also stone, architecture and water elements that are customary to Chinese gardens. Dense and complex, it will change dramatically with each season. Some site work was completed in 2008. In the next phase, a team will be constructing the Knowing the Spring Courtyard, the second traditional structure in the Garden. Completion of this structure is expected by end of 2010. Components for this courtyard will be fabricated in Chongqing, and assembly performed by Chinese artisans from our sister city, Chongqing and local contractors. Four Chinese artisans arrived in Seattle August 6, 2010 to help with construction of the Seattle Chinese Garden.
About the Artisans
Feng Dacheng, lead designer from Chongqing, and Song Weizhong, chief architect and project manager for the Changshu Ancient Style Garden Construction Company, will guide courtyard construction. Local partners are construction firm Krekow Jennings and Jones and Jones Architecture.
Yangming Chu is the Garden Society’s project director. An expert on Chinese art history and architecture, Chu oversaw the first stage of courtyard construction in 2008, the building of the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden in 1998, and the Ming Courtyard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Volunteer! Share in the Excitement – Meet the Artisans
Would you like to help make the artisans’ visit a successful and fun one? Host a dinner for a small group, show artisans the sights of Seattle! Maybe you have extra tickets to the Mariners? There is also a need for interpreters, tour guides, talk time/conversation exchange participants, meal-related help, special events’ assistants, and office help. Even 3 to 4 hours a month would be great!
To learn more about all the volunteer options, please review online request.
Also, please consider donating needed items to make their visit more comfortable. To learn more about what supplies we still need, please scroll down to the bottom of the online request.
Located at South Seattle Community College, the Garden will reveal commanding views of downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay and the Cascade Mountains. The Garden will also feature 12 buildings, including an education center and a banquet hall with special event seating for up to 200 people. The 85-foot Floating Clouds Pavilion will soar over the Garden, placed on an axis with the Space Needle. As a major destination and cultural institution, the Seattle Chinese Garden will inspire new perspectives on world affairs and illuminate China and her cultural and economic influence on the Pacific Northwest.
A rain garden acts like a native forest by collecting, absorbing, and filtering stormwater runoff from roof tops, driveways, patios, and other areas that don’t allow water to soak in. Rain Gardens are simply shallow depressions that:
Can be shaped and sized to fit your yard
Are constructed with soil mixes that allow water to soak in rapidly and support healthy plant growth
Can be landscaped with a variety of plants to fit the surroundings
You can make an important contribution to reduce the amount of stormwater and pollutants coming
from your property by incorporating rain gardens into your yard. For more information about rain gardens and how to build one, download this free Rain Garden Handbook for Western Washington Homeowners (PDF).
Enjoy an audio tour at your own pace. Hear from experts including garden designers and curation staff as they share stories about the significance of each garden to humans and the natural world. Available tours include:
The Pacific Connections Garden at Washington Park Arboretum (download Arboretum map (PDF))
The demonstration gardens at the Center for Urban Horticulture (download Center for Urban Horticulture map (PDF))
Download and use the tour audio files on your personal MP3 player or rent a player at the Arboretum or Center for Urban Horticulture.
Free weekend walks led by experienced, trained, knowledgeable and engaging docents at the Washington Park Arboretum, Graham Visitors Center, 2300 Arboretum Dr. East Seattle, WA 98112. Two different tours are offered on alternating weekends.
11 am tours of each month are themed tours that focus on a specifc topic. Past topics have included new gardens, evergreens, azaleas, hydrangeas and magnolias.
1 pm walks are based on the whims and interests of our knowledgeable and engaging Garden Guides. You could see one of our major collections like oaks or maples, visit flowers of the season or perhaps you’ll stroll through our wetlands learning about restoration and aquatic wildlife. You won’t know unless you show!
For dates and topics, visit the Arboretum calendar.
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