Puget Sound Fling: Day 2 started at RSBG

Day Two of the Puget Sound Fling in mid-July started off with our arrival at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (RSBG).  The site is twenty-two acres in size and contains the largest Rhododendron collection in the world.  The Pacific Bonsai Museum occupies a portion of the RSBG's grounds, which was also on our agenda, so the visit was a two-fer.

The RSBG Conservatory was just ahead so that's where I started.

The Conservatory was remarkably large and even contained a water feature

Just outside the conservatory, I came across a few artwork pieces before plunging ahead along the main path through the garden, surrounded by massive trees.

Among the art, there was a series labeled as "Rock Hoppers"

A seating area outside the Conservatory featured a beautiful Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) in a pot, which had me wondering if I could try that to expand my personal collection of 2 of these maples

I took a few shots from a distance to show just how tall the trees are.  According to our Fling brochure, trees include Douglas firs, western red cedars, and hemlocks.

This photo is marred by at least 4 sun spots but I included it because the figure wearing a blue t-shirt in the distance on the left puts the size of those trees in perspective

I thought I heard someone identify this tree but I couldn't remember what it was.  As I know that Loree of danger garden has visited RSBG often, I scanned some of her posts and concluded that this is probably a Mahonia tree.  Honestly, if you'd like more extensive coverage of RSBG, search Loree's site!  RSBG should consider paying her to provide photos for their website.

During Day One, I'd already acknowledged that many of the plants in the Puget Sound were foreign to me.  That was even more evident in the woodland environment of RSBG.  I decided to just appreciate the plants for their own sake without investing a lot of time and energy in trying to identify them.

Other than western sword ferns (Polystichum munitum) there are very few ferns I can grow in my own garden.  I can't identify those on the left.  I can only identify the one on the right (Blechnum chilense) because there's a label in the photograph.

Before I became acquainted with Loree (danger garden), I valued Rhododendrons purely for their flowers but I've since grown to appreciate the foliage of many of them, not that that changes the fact that most can't be grown in my climate.  I can only identify the one on the upper right (Rhododendron asterochnoum) and the one on the lower right (R. 'Golfer').

In addition to the Conservatory, our guide recommended checking out the garden's Victorian Stumpery.

I consider this my best shot from the Stumpery but that didn't mean I didn't take more photos as shown below

Kathy of GardenBook is admiring the Stumpery here.  Her own post on RSBG can be found here.

After leaving the Stumpery, some of us came upon a large pond.

That flat green area in the middle of this photo isn't grass

Here's a closer look at the pond, which is covered by mat of tiny aquatic ferns (Azolla filiculoides)

This sign made me laugh but I suspect it was there for good reason!

I'm no expert on shade plants (as there's precious little shade in my garden) and summer isn't the peak season for floral color in the Puget Sound area but among the plants all around me, I was able to identify some.  In some cases, others on the Fling tour threw out identifications, or at least suppositions.

Clockwise from the upper left, to the best of my knowledge, are: a Begonia I once killed (and can't identify by name), what others thought was a Himalayan lily (Cardocrinum gigantea, not in bloom), noID Hydrangea, Inula magnifica, Primula prolifera, and a vine that might be Hydrangea anomala

We were allotted approximately ninety minutes at this location so, with less than half that time remaining, I checked out the Pacific Bonsai Museum.  I've considered trying bonsai a few times but, fearing that I lack the patience the practice of bonsai takes, I've yet to take the plunge.

This bonsai is a compilation of an Acer palmatium, Cotoneaster, and an azalea.  The label on the plant showed its origin date as 1979.  Each label also included a "training start date," which was usually different, sometimes dramatically so, but I didn't record the latter date.

This one is a Chinese elm with an origin date of 1970.  Based on the online references I consulted, origin dates may refer to the date the plant material was selected or the date it was first placed in a container.  Training start dates refer to when human manipulation of the plant material began.

Chinese juniper x Sierra juniper, origin 990!  In some cases, newer plant material was grafted onto an older specimen, as I believe was the case here.

Eastern white cedar, origin 1770

Japanese white pine, origin 1945

Korean yew, origin 1500

Shimpaku juniper, origin 1972

Subalpine fir, origin 1945

Given the amount of time I spent photographing individual bonsai plants, I was chagrined to find out I'd missed some of the best specimens, including one tree that had a face carved into its wood base.  That's all the more reason to refer you to posts other Fling participants have published.  Some can be found here and others on Instagram and YouTube sites.  If you're interested of Instagram posts, you can check out posts labeled #2024gardenfling, #gardenfling 2024, or #pugetsoundfling.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party