Brother Tim, Leon and I headed out to the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden today (http://www.kruckeberg.org/).  I’ve lived near Shoreline for 20 years and never really paid attention to this garden before.  My loss, as it turned out to be a real treasure.  We were reminded of the garden because Leon installed a sculpture there this week as part of Shorelines Artscape sculpture exhibit.  His “Night Watchman” is beautifully displayed near the parking area of the garden.

We had a wonderful picnic there first, followed by some quick exploration of the grounds before picking through a bunch of amazing sales plants propagated right there on the property.

Here are some of the plants we ended up buying:

Boykinia major — the nursery had strong starts of these plants, new to me.  Native to the western US, but not Washington.  I bought one for the newly planted Douglas fir bed.

Clematis stans — another new plant to me, this clematis is considered a viney sub-shrub, and best of all its late summer flowers are fragrant.  I purchased a healthy one-gallon start.  It was expensive, but I’m excited for its potential and worth it to have something special to remember the day.

Oxalis oregana — Western wood sorrel is a great ground cover for shade and Leon wanted to try some in the woodland garden to cover some of the bare patches near the western fence.

Begonia sutherlandii — Tim had spotted a large plant of this cheerful begonia and while I was checking through the sale plants, I spotted the last 4″ pot of this beauty, blooming brightly and begging to be taken home.  So, Tim bought it.

We plan to head back to this wonderful garden sometime soon and spend a whole day exploring.  Their inventory of rare and interesting plants is impressive, and the staff are friendly and knowledgeable.