After a healthy lunch of borscht, spinach salad, and huge pretzels covered in seeds, my sister suggested a forest walk. She had a nearby destination in mind. And … another motive. She’d heard that the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden had cyclamen plants for sale that day, the first Saturday in October.
She’s a big fan of native plants, anything that grows naturally in the Pacific Northwest. Me? I like bright, showy flowers and beautifully shaped foliage. I don’t care to poke into their ancestry.
The Kruckeberg Botanic Garden is a woodsy place tucked away in a woodsy part of the city of Shoreline, WA. You have to use your phone app to find it. At least we did. There’s a story attached to the place, the story of Arthur and Mareen. And I love a story. They met in the 1950s at the UW where he was a professor and she was a student.
The board at the entrance to the garden gives a brief description of them before and after they were married. After returning home, I googled the longer and even more interesting tale of the garden and their lives: Here’s the link: Kruckeberg Botanic Garden.
My sister wasted no time choosing a couple of little cyclamen plants, buying them, and taking them back to her car.
Then we got on with our walk.
If you like bright, showy gardens like the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C. that are manicured daily and replanted seasonally, then this one isn’t for you.
Kruckeberg Garden is the place for a peaceful walk through the forest with points of interest along the way. To tell the truth, I love both kinds of gardens. How about you?
Cyclamens were everywhere, growing low to the ground in shady spots. They could easily be missed, I suppose, but not by my sister. She loves them–thinks they look like little fairies.
These big sword ferns are as common as dirt in a NW forest. Belatedly they’ve become popular and therefore expensive in some nurseries.
As we walked along the trail, my sister remarked that she wished she had a garden like this. “I should have started earlier,” she remarked.
“It takes a lifetime of dedication to one thing I reminded her. She had to agree. Like most of us, she has many interests.
On the way out, Dr. Kruckeberg left us with a lovely thought: “Plant diversity is one of the wonders of the natural world.”
A few more photos from the garden:
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I’m with you when it comes to plants: “I don’t care to poke into their ancestry.” I like the showy ones even if they aren’t indigenous to the area. That being said, what a beautiful garden to visit. I like the history of it, makes me smile about the loving couple who started it. Lovely photos, too.
Thank you, Ally. I do enjoy knowing a little bit about the history of a place when I visit. Butchart Gardens, for example, began as a cement plant. The Burcharts moved to Vancouver Island in 1904. There was a building boom on the West Coast, especially in San Francisco, and their business was a big success. But Jennie had a limestone quarry in her backyard. When the limestone deposits were exhausted, Jennie dreamed of turning the pit into a grand sunken garden. She brought in soil by horse and cart and started planting things. That’s only the beginning of the story. Now it’s an international destination. People come by bus all day long.
Beautiful photos. A hidden garden? How lovely!
The profusion of tall evergreens in this area provide many opportunities for hidden gardens.
Thanks for the walk! It looks like a very relaxing place.
Thanks, Marta. It’s always pleasant to be out in the woods.
I loved walking with you and your sister through this lovely, interesting place. Thanks for the moment with green therapy!
Those of us in the Pacific Northwest are lucky nearby opportunities for walks through the forest. Or, like you, to live surrounded by trees.
I love both kinds of gardens. This was beautiful!
Me too. As Dr. Kruckeberg said, “Plant diversity is one of the wonders of the natural world.”
I admit I’ve never been there – always on the radar though. If it stops raining I’ll make another attempt.
It’s so close to us, so it’s just a little afternoon walk (or morning walk).
I love both kinds of gardens. Trees are what I miss the most about the East Coast, though, so probably I’d opt for the walk in the woods (although Buchart was impressive).
No need to choose. They’re both nice. Butchart is more expensive, though. The Kruckeberg Garden is free.
Wonderful walk. I’m not a fan of overly processed food or gardens . . . your walk on the wild side of the forest = just my speed.
I don’t know about “wild.” But there are plenty of walks on the wild side in the forests here. I grew up loving trees, and forest fires we’ve had in recent years are heartbreaking.
Thank y0u for taking us on your visit to the gardens, Nicki. What a legacy the Kruckebergs have!
I’m one for bright flowers also usually. But a visit to Suzhou widened my view of the components of a beautiful garden!
Most of us plant a few flowers, plants, and trees to decorate our yards. But the Kruckebergs planted a garden that displays a wide variety of native plants in their natural habitat and a few exotic plants. Dr. Kruckeberg was stationed in Japan during WWII, so he brought back seeds and cuttings from there. But I think you’re right in calling it their legacy. They willed it to the city of Shoreline.
I visited Suzhou once also and found it a beautiful city.
That is a lovely story behind the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden, started by two people who had a love for botany and plant collecting. The garden does look like it has some unique pieces, from the bench to the bird sculpture to the water feature. I am guessing the bench with the pine cones (?) isn’t meant for sitting.
I don’t mind showy gardens and the more subdued-coloured, leafy gardens. So long as there is a clear, marked path (and perhaps signage and a map at the start) I am happy to go in and have a walk around and not worried about getting lost. If it’s a big garden which will take you a bit of time to walk around, having shade or a place to rest would be something I look for too. There are some very large gardens here in Melbourne and sometimes I find myself stopping halfway for a bit of a rest before enjoying the rest of the walk.
I suppose you could move the pine cones if you wanted to sit down.
Yes, if a garden or park or hiking trail is big or long, it’s good to have a map and a place to sit down and rest. Benches are also good for sitting and contemplating the scenery.
I’ve never been to Melbourne, but my husband and I spent a week in Sydney. I was impressed as we walked around by the variety of flowers that grew there. They seemed to be able to grow flowers that grew in tropical places and also those one finds in temperate lands. Of course, you’re farther south, so it most be different.