Washington Park Arboretum

The Washington Park Arboretum was established in 1934. The City of Seattle held title to a 200+ acre park located in a central portion of the city and agreed that the University of Washington could design, construct, plant, and manage an Arboretum and Botanical Garden in this park.

In 1936, James F. Dawson and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. of the Olmsted Brothers landscape firm were hired to design the first planting plan. According to Wikipedia, "Frederick Law Olmsted was a landscape designer and father of American landscape architecture, famous for designing many well-known urban parks, including Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City. Other projects include the country's oldest coordinated system of public parks and parkways in Buffalo, NY, the country's oldest state park, the Niagara Reservation in Niagara Falls, NY, Mount Royal Park in Montreal, the Emerald Necklace in Boston, MA, the Belle Isle Park, in Detroit, MI, the Grand Necklace of Parks including Washington Park in Milwaukee, WI, the Cherokee Park (and the entire parks and parkway system) in Louisville, KY, the Jackson Park, the Washington Park, the Midway Plaisance in Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition, the landscape surrounding the United States Capitol building, George Washington Vanderbilt II's Biltmore Estate in Asheville, and Montebello Park in St. Catharines, Ontario."

The Washington Park Arboretum is a living plant museum emphasizing trees and shrubs hardy in the maritime Pacific Northwest. Collections are selected and arranged to display their beauty and function in urban landscapes, to demonstrate their natural ecology and diversity, and to conserve important species and cultivated varieties for the future. The Arboretum serves the public, students at all levels, naturalists, gardeners, and nursery and landscape professionals with its collections, educational programs, interpretation, and recreational opportunities.

This statement was adopted January 4, 1996, by the Arboretum and Botanical Garden Committee, established by the 1934 State Legislature, representing the University of Washington, the City of Seattle, The Arboretum Foundation, the local community and a governor's representative.

Alexi took these photos yesterday as we enjoyed an afternoon stroll in the park.