The Arboretum Foundation is following University of Washington protocols for COVID-19. The UW is responding to the virus outbreak in coordination with state and local health departments. Although UW classes are being conducted remotely, the campus remains open, and accordingly, the Graham Visitors Center and the Foundation office are also open regular hours. 

In the interest of community safety, the Foundation is limiting indoor events at both the Arboretum and the Seattle Japanese Garden. We also strongly urge volunteers to consider their personal situations and to opt out as needed. This is obviously a fluid situation, and we will continue to monitor public health recommendations and make adjustments as needed.

Visit the UW Botanic Gardens website for up-to-date information on any closures or postponements of its events/classes.

Spring is almost here, and gardeners around the region are planning for the new growing season. If you're digging out plants to make room for new ones, please consider a donation to the Arboretum! Our Plant Donations Nursery volunteers will begin accepting plants starting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, and they would welcome additions to their inventory. With an eye on next month's Spring Plant Sale (see below), they'd be particularly happy to receive gifts of ferns, spring-blooming shrubs, and woodland perennials, such as anemones, trilliums, bleeding heart, and trout lilies. 

Our Spring Plant Sale is less than a month away! Come see the cherries, magnolias, and dogwoods in peak bloom at the Arboretum, and then shop for beautiful plants for your home garden. All sales benefit our tree care, environmental education, and volunteer programs. As a special treat this year, Volunteer Park Conservatory will be on-hand selling indoor plants. Don't miss this opportunity to support two of Seattle's great park organizations!

The Japanese Garden's next Free First Thursday event on April 2 will be the opening reception for an exhibit entitled "Meet Me at Higo." Created by the Wing Luke Museum, the exhibit of photos, journals, and artifacts explores the Japanese American experience through the story of the Higo 10 Cents Store, a social hub in Seattle's Japantown owned by the Murakami family. The reception takes place from 4 to 5:45 p.m in the Tateuchi Community Room. Entry to the Garden will be FREE from 1 p.m. to closing. The exhibit will be on display through April 27.
(Photo courtesy Wing Luke Museum)

In the latest issue of the Arboretum Bulletin, Miller Library manager and curator Brian Thompson focuses his regular book review on the work of intrepid women botanists and botanical artists of the late 19th century and early 20th century in western North America. These include Emma Homan Thayer's "Wild Flowers of the Pacific Coast" (1887), the earliest book on the flora of the West Coast in the library's collection, and Edith Clement's exquisitely illustrated "Flowers of Coast and Sierra" (1928).