The Luck of an Olmsted Legacy
In 1889 men wore top hats, long dress coats, fitted jackets and plaid tweed suits. It is not impossible to imagine a particular young man of the time to be…
Garden Societies
Dunn Gardens is about to host a gathering of the Seattle Garden Club by way of thanks for their considerable generosity over the years.
Around the World in 80 Gardens
I wish I could claim the blog title. It is borrowed from a 2008 television show and is, of course, a spin off of Jules Verne’s novel, Around the World…
Singing Your Way Back to the Future
One of Dunn Gardens more imaginative events is coming up. It is called a Good Vibrations Party but is really a love fest of all the songs you remember growing…
Grandchildren and Bumblebees
On a recent walk my grandchildren explained to me that the rows of lavender along the sidewalk were “bobbing with bumblebees.” They chuckled as they ran the alliteration around their…
The Pull of Signature Plants
Frequently, visitors to the Dunn remark on plantings in the garden in personal terms. “Poppies. Wonder how I can get mine to look like those.” A visit by…
Moving into June
So what is this about June being almost upon us? Six months into the year already I hear you mutter. How did that happen? I love June in Seattle. In…
Bouquets and Beyond
When the buds first pop in the spring I begin to think of the garden as one awfully large bouquet. Given Dunn Gardens hosts classes on floral arranging, not to…
An Unexpected Immigrant Turns Seventy
This blog is more personal than most. March 18 I turn 70. I’m not exactly sure what 70 is supposed to feel like. What I do know is that it…
Under the Wings of the Tocororo
‘El Crocodrilo’ is the playful term Cubans use when speaking of their island. On the back of the crocodile are six biosphere reserves protected by UNESCO containing 7,000 plant species,…
Scones in the Dunn Gardens
In the name of transparency this blog is not directly about gardens, as one would expect on a garden site. But if you stick with it you will learn how…
Waking Up in a Garden
My reaction in my youth to a prognosticator that I would, as an almost 70-year old woman, be working and living in a garden, would have been disbelief. But I…