A visit to Seattle's Volunteer Park Conservatory

It was a rainy February afternoon in Seattle, and I was done with the NWFG Fest (but not done with plants—duh) so I decided to visit an old haunt, the Volunteer Park Conservatory on Capitol Hill. I lived just about 4 blocks away for several years and walked through the conservatory regularly. 

The statue in front of the conservatory is of William Henry Seward. Seward was the United States Secretary of State who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Seattle's Seward Park is also named after this man. Why is Seattle so hot to honor a Senator and Governor from New York? Well from what I understand Seattle wouldn't be the metropolis it is, if not for the fact it became a thru point for goods heading to Alaska.

Just inside the door there was a great display of large staghorns, they were at a level you could look down on them, rather then up.

That gave an entirely new perspective!

Another part of the display, unfortunately these were hard to photograph well.

Onto (more) ferns and bromeliads!

I love a good climbing nepenthes.

As well as ferns in the sky.

Ceratostema rauhii, a tropical blueberry relative from Peru.

Wow, check out the spores on that platycerium…

They looked like they'd been dipped in a thick sticky cinnamon mix.

Lots of bromeliads to love...

Deuterocohnia lorentziana, a terrestrial bromeliad from Bolivia.

A close-up.

Ficus aspera, the mosaic fig.

I can only assume these are volunteers, ferns that have grown from spore moving around in the air? I’m so glad they were left in place.

On to the desert wing…

That big fellow is labeled as a crested Euphorbia lactea.

Kumara plicatilis, formerly Aloe plicatilis.

Another Deuterocohnia, I believe this one is D. brevifolia.

This hanging business caught my eye and gave me major flashback vibes, to 2013 actually, and the planters Andrew made to hanging in a long ago office (here). 

Then there is this…

Looking longingly at the off-limits greenhouses behind the conservatory I spotted an agave appendage laying on the lawn, sort of like it was placed there. I joked on Instagram that it looked like someone laid it down hoping it would sprout babies, like opuntia leaves do if placed on the ground. Haha, funny right? But Mr. Agave commented: “It is curious. You know, I saw a Japanese gardener that I follow do this with A. titanota leaves and he swears that he gets pups from it. There were dozens of comments saying that it's impossible and a few saying that it's not. I'm no expert so I divert to the experts who say that it's not possible but still, I see it occasionally as something that is possible. I would think that of the thousands of discarded agave leaves in my pile, one would have pupped by now if it were possible.” 

Never say never?

Here’s the agave that lost an arm to the experiment (if that’s even what’s going on).

And it’s super fuzzy friend…

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Some plants I grow and some plants I lust after, at the RSBG

I've been shopping at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden on-site nursery long enough to have accumulated a nice little collection of their plants. In addition, there are several plants I've bought elsewhere, but they're growing at the garden and I like to check in on them and see how they're doing whenever I visit.

Rhododendron 'Ever Red' grows in a large container right next to the nursery area. I lust after it every single visit, that's it on the left/top. On the bottom are some of the 'Ever Red' that were for sale during my February visit. Since I bought one at the Hardy Fern Foundation's FernFest last September (RSBG was a guest vendor at the sale) I didn't have to stop and ponder the purchase!

I don't think I've ever shared a photo of the garden's Rutherford Conservatory, instead focusing on the plants inside. Can you make out that planting island in the shadows in front of the conservatory?

That's where this creeping strawberry pine, Microcachrys tetragona is growing. The dwarf conifer from Tasmania is planted in the perfect spot, where it can cascade down over the rock wall...

...and show off it's small fruit, the "strawberries", which of course aren't really strawberries at all, and this isn't a pine either, but rather part of the podocarp family.

My plants (I have a couple) have never looked this good!

I always take time to admire the toughs in front of the conservatory, but I don't remember them ever being grouped together like this, perhaps it's a winter thing.

That little cutie is Asplenium ceterach. I was given a pair last summer from a Portland gardener. Mine have kind of disappeared over the winter which is a problem since they're evergreen. Perhaps I need to lift them and plant them in one of my (smaller, not as cool) troughs.

I believe this Cassiope 'Askival', I was able to bring one home on this visit.

I also grow Cassiope lycopodioides, which this might be?

And I'm fairly certain this is another cassiope...

Sinopanax formosanus, I think there are three of them growing here, mixed in with the ferns, rhododendrons and other characters.

Here's the same planting from the opposite side. The Sinopanax formosanus are the shrubs with leaves vaguely shaped like a maple leaf. I only have one and last spring I moved it to the far west end of the garden to grow up in front of the neighbor's fence.

Rhododendron forrestii ssp. forrestii

I'm on my third attempt to grow this plant, but I think maybe this one might make it, yay! This is another plant I purchased from the RSBG at last September's FernFest.

I'm going out on a limb frond here, perhaps getting a little too confident with my fern ID. I think this might be Polystichum tsus-simense aka Polystichum luctuosum (Korean Rock Fern).

If that's the case then I'm currently growing this one inside the house on the fern tray I put together after the holidays.

I was very excited to find this plant again on my February visit (as I mentioned Wednesday, sometimes it can be a bit of a challenge to retrace your steps and re-find a plant off the beaten path), Rhododendron cardiobasis...

Another score last September at FernFest and a plant I was sure to protect over our brief bit of winter this year, since it had only been in the ground for a few months. Fingers crossed mine looks this good eventually!

Just one more "I grow that!" plant, the ground cover Lonicera crassifolia. I was stunned to see it carpet a the ground like this...

For the second part of this post, a few plants I don't grow, but lust after at the garden, Rhododendron platypodum...

And another, in different light.

I'm not sure if this little cliffbrake fern (pellaea) is new since my last visit, or if I just never noticed it before.

It's a tiny thing!

I have no idea what this little creature is, but it's leaves had a sort of oily sheen that reminded me of the Microsorum thailandicum (blue oil fern) I got at Little Prince.

Agapetes serpens SEH#25095

This one's growing inside the conservatory though, so likely not hardy.

Rhododendron mallotum, such a distinctive plant, that indumentum is thick! 

Rhododendron roxieanum var. oreonasters

I want one just like that with the green furry trunk.

Just one last plant, this one I may have actually grown briefly, and it succumbed to a bad winter (planted in the fall, something I rarely do). Polygonatum mengtzense f. tonkinense

How cool is that!?

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.