Did someone say apples?

 

 

 

 

 

Got apples? 

 

We have what was originally supposed to be a dwarf Jonathan apple tree that was planted 50 years ago.  Jonathan apples are an older variety, good for both eating and cooking if you like a tart tasting apple.  It is no longer a dwarf tree!  Bob has been carefully tending it for several years now.  He pruned it so the branches would hang down and make it easier to pick the fruit.  We get apples each year but never as many as this year.  Also, since he has been taking special care to stop apple maggot infestations (notoriously bad in western Washington) and apple scab, these apples are pretty on the outside and gorgeous on the inside, no worms.  

 

 

Very pretty! 

After a dry summer it finally started raining a couple of weeks ago.  With some help from the local squirrels and birds, the rain and wind are knocking the apples off the tree.  We decided we better pick them even if some were still a little green.  The “almost completely ripe” apples make good applesauce and pie filling.  Two of our 13 grandchildren live in the area and had asked if they could come help harvest the apples.  They came on Saturday and we picked 3 boxes two layers deep.  The next day we picked another equal amount for a two day total of about 320 apples.  There were still about that many left on the tree! 

 

We ended up with about 3 times this many apples.
 

These boxes have the results of the second picking, single layer.  All of the boxes went into the garage to stay cool.  So far, we have made and frozen two pie fillings and 7 batches of applesauce, 3 with sugar & spices—cinnamon and nutmeg, and 4 with just a small amount of sugar.  We shared, delivery included, with friends and neighbors.  Bountiful harvest indeed.

 

Bob finished picking the last 25 or so apples.  We ended up with 16 boxes of apples.  The grand total of this year’s crop—will be between 500-600 apples!!!  Unbelievable. 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 558

 

 

 

 

 

Meerkerk Gardens, Greenbank, Whidbey Island

 

Meerkerk Gardens on Whidbey Island were another of the wonderful gardens that we hoped to visit someday.  That day arrived in mid-May.  It had been cold and rainy and not many flowers on the hiking trails yet, but still desiring to get out, Bob checked the weather forecast and we aimed for the best, sunniest day to take a long drive out and a ferry back.  What a wonderful surprise to find among the pamphlets and maps there was a postcard with this lovely view of the pathway and rhododendrons in bloom.  No photographer is credited with the picture, and the card has no publisher or distributor, suggesting that the postcards were printed for advertising purposes.  A donation fee of $5 per person is posted on the pay box found just outside the entrance to the gardens with additional donations appreciated.  Some of the proceeds from Washington State rhododendron vanity license plates also go to help support the gardens.

 

 

Sign pointing the way to the gardens

 

Entrance to the garden

 

These gardens were founded by Ann and Max Meerkerk in the early 1960s.  The idea and vision for a woodland garden came after they visited the Rothchild’s Exbury Gardens in England.  Ann was a member of both the Washington Park Arboretum and the American Rhododendron Society, Seattle Chapter.  Originally, the Meerkerks had 13 acres where they collected and hybridized rhododendrons.  Rhododendrons are Washington’s state flower.  The gardens were gradually expanded to 10 acres of rhododendrons surrounded by 43 acres of woodlands. 

 

 

Carved eagle on post

 

There are more than 1,500 varieties of rhododendrons and hybrids featured in the gardens.  Individual gardens blend together with signs to identify the areas by garden clubs or gardeners.  Throughout the gardens are wooden benches, some are plain others are decorated.  We also found a “Secret Garden” with fairies and in a different area a carved Eagle.

 

 

Fairy in the Secret Garden

 

The Gardens were bequeathed to the Seattle Rhododendron Society in 1979 for a “peaceful woodland garden with an emphasis on rhododendrons and companion plants.”

 

 

The working area with plants for sale

 

Today the gardens are open to the public and managed by the Meerkerk Rhododendron Garden nonprofit established in 2002.  There are over 4 miles of trails in the 53 acres of woodland gardens.  Special events held on the grounds include the Spring Nursery Sale, Mother’s Day Concert, and Octoberfest.

 

Some of the things we saw the day we visited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkerk_Rhododendron_Gardens

https://www.meerkerkgardens.org/history

 

 

Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, 2022

 

 

 

 

This is a garden we have been wanting to visit for a while now.  It is located on the former Weyerhauser property near Federal Way.  Free parking is available in a separate lot about one block away from the entrance into the garden. 

 

A path from the parking lot winds between trees and crosses the main street into the garden area.  There is a modest admission fee with discounts for seniors, students, and free entry for active or retired military, and children under age 12.  Admission fees are collected at the small visitor center/gift shop where one can pick up free pamphlets, a map showing the various trails in the garden, and other items.  There is also a clean, modern restroom with a changing table for infants. 

 

Inside the Bonsai enclosed space

In addition to the outdoor garden there is also an enclosed space with examples of bonsai trees.  The Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection, which we did not visit this time, is adjacent to the indoor bonsai exhibit.  Most of the garden is outdoors; however, the other enclosed area is the Rutherford Conservatory.  It is filled with plants, some with wonderful scents.  An unexpected plus was an area with plant sales.  Next time we will be more prepared with a list of things we might like to add to our own garden.

 

 

 

 Much of the garden looks like a forest with paths and beautiful flowering plants all along the way

 

 

 The pond

 

The outdoor garden is not exclusively Rhododendrons but contains many different plants, some native and some exotic.  Here are some of the things we saw the day we visited the garden.  Not all the plants were labeled but most were Rhododendrons.  This is a garden continually in motion, things moving, new things being planted, and areas evolving.  The day we visited we took one of the lesser used paths and found a gardener busy at work.  He was kind enough to talk with us and answer some questions.

 

 

This plant looked like Snow Bells but ours had finished their bloom a long while ago so we are not sure if this is the same or not.

A Giant White Trillium.  It is native to the Northwest but we have never seen it in the wild.

 

Star Magnolia just beginning the bloom

 

 

Magnolia

Very large, each flower was hand-size, rhododendron plant in the conservatory

For additional information, see:

 

www.RhodyGarden.org

Kubota Garden, 2022

 

 

 

 

 One of the ponds in the garden

 

 

 Another pond, this one with a traditional Japanese bridge

 

Even though this has been a cooler than normal Spring in the Pacific Northwest and there is still snow in the mountains, we put away the ski gear.  It was time to get out enjoy the early blossoms and new growth.  A first choice was a public garden park not too far from home.  We have visited Kubota Garden before at various times of the year.  Since it is still fairly cold, fewer things were blooming but it was still lovely and not very crowded.  While the basic design of the garden remains the same, each time we visit we notice small changes such as plants being removed or added.  This time we also noticed that an updated restroom was being constructed as well as some new ADA wheelchair accessible paths.  

 

 

Waterfalls, stepping stones and bridges across pools can be found here and there in the garden.

 

 

There were ducks swimming in one of the ponds.  When we have visited before it was later in the season and Koi and turtles could been found in the ponds too.  

 

 

 

There are several Japanese stone features and a few rocks with Japanese characters etched in them.  Just inside the main entrance to the Garden is a large bronze bell.  Bob is testing out the sound quality.  It produces a pleasant deep bong sound. 

 

The garden is a blend of Japanese and American gardening.  

 

 

 

Quince

 

 

Currant

 

 Rhododendron

 

Magnolia

 

 

Unidentified exotic, growing on the edge of the water

Japanese Maple with new leaves

 

Mr. Kubota started this garden in the 1920s as a way to advertise his landscaping business and to show what plants he had available.  Today it is a public park with free parking and no entrance fee.  The garden is supported by the Kubota Foundation.  Donations are welcome.

 

For more information about Mr. Kubota and the garden, see:

https://kubotagarden.org/index.html