Sunday, January 3, 2016

Life in the Amazon

Walking down to Pike Place Market a few weeks ago, I noticed they finally took the fencing down from the first building in the new Amazon mega campus.  So I took a little stroll through.  Their selection of plants had me salivating.


My first thought was someone who really likes Dan Hinkley designed the landscaping.  I later found out that he was hired as a consultant for the project.

Looks like Holboellia coriacea, Beesia deltophylla, and Adiantum venustum
This Holboellia vine, located directly in front of a heat exhaust vent, was already strutting its fragrant flowers.
There were lots of nooks and crannies filled with interesting plants.  Because of the towering canopy of the skycrapers, all of the plants here are adapted for shade.

This looks like Disporopsis, Disporum, and Beesia.  
Evergreen hydrangea relative Dichroa febrifuga
Close up of Dichroa febrifuga's metallic-purple berries
Can't wait to see how these plants naturalize together
Not a doggie toilet!
I can't say it's all good.  I want to like this plant's blackness but seeing it here finally made me realize it's just not black enough to qualify as a black plant.  I guess it's still slightly better than an azalea.

Coprosma 'Black Cloud'
Just across the street, construction is well underway for the greenhouse that will house more tropical plants.  I have been told that some plants that are outgrowing the conservatory at the Rhododendron Species Garden in Federal Way will move here.  At the rate it's going I'd say they should be done with it by summer.



7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the look at what they're up to. I've heard more bad news than good, hopefully that will all be proven wrong and there will be a new, rich, garden in downtown Seattle.

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    1. Yeah some people might thnk of Amazon as an "invasive species" but at least they are building downtown and not contributing to suburban sprawl. If more companies did this it would be a huge benefit for the environment.

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  2. A while ago, Kelly at Far Reaches told me that Amazon had bought a bunch of Lobelia giberroa from them - for use indoors, of course! Any hints of where that'll be?

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    1. Probably in the greenhouse (last picture in the post).

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  3. Very interesting. I'd heard a bit about greenhouse plans but didn't know that the grounds would be planted so nicely. Thanks for the tour!

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    1. This is only 1/3 of the eventual campus too so there will be more to come.

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  4. I am totally blown away by this post! Really? Far Reaches AND HInkley AND Amazon? Brilliant!

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