This Way to Freeway Park

Right in the middle of downtown Seattle, Freeway park is a jungle of plants within a jungle of concrete.  It was built in 1976 - and has dutifully reclaimed and reconnected the land that I-5 split apart when the freeway opened in 1967.
 

While walking to the NW Flower & Garden Show a couple weeks ago, some of the newer plantings in the park caught my attention and I stopped to snap a few photos.

The fragrant Sarcococca humilis enchants the winter air.

Especially in such a mass planting.

Ophiopogon japonicus

This dual-colored Camellia japonica wasn't actually in Freeway Park, but close enough.

Nice clumps of hellebores

Liriope muscari

Cornus mas

Arum italicum

Witch Hazel (Hamamelis sp.)

Edible Italian kale (Brassica oleracea 'Nero Di Toscana') looking primed for harvest

The next time you're in downtown Seattle, it's worth checking out!  Click here for directions.
 

Things Are Looking Up!

Polypodium glycyrrhiza (Licorice fern) growing on Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood)

Tetrapanax papyrifer (Rice paper plant)

Now that the days are finally warming up a bit and the nighttime lows are above freezing, I've been taking a few of the subtropical plants out of the greenhouse and setting them out in the garden.  It has become an annual ritual to plant a red banana (Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii') in the front corner by the sidewalk so all the neighbors can stand in awe of a real, living banana growing in their neighborhood (OK, not technically a banana).

Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii'

Below, some succulents are basking in the intensity of some full sunshine for the first time this year.

This 3-year old Sabal minor is looking happy.

Sabal minor

The winter was mild, the soil is nice and wet, the mountains have plenty of snow so no worries of drought this summer...I think we are primed for a great growing season.

Camellia japonica covered in blooms