Spring has come early to Seattle. The sun has been shining. Birds have been chirping. And Twitter is chock-full of flower photos.
After a dark winter, nothing lifts the spirit like a bed full of seasonal blooms. We asked some of our senior gardeners for the best places to spot splashes of color in our parks.
Grab your iced coffee and stop by to smell the daffodils, camellias, flowering cherry trees… well, you get it.
Volunteer Park
Go because: There’s a heady scent of Daphne and Sarcococca in the air. Follow your nose and be lead to tucked-away beds full of blooming camellias, flowering quince and Dawn Viburnum. If it rains, you can always pop into the Volunteer Park Conservatory and warm up surrounded by tropical flowering plants from around the world.
Recommendation from: Jody Blecksmith, Senior Gardener, Volunteer Park
Hamilton Viewpoint Park
Go because: The park offers spectacular views of Elliott Bay and downtown Seattle, and the garden landscape features Kousa dogwood, flowering cherry, rhododendron and seasonal color display beds full of daffodils in the spring.
Lincoln Park
Go because: You can find occasional flowering cherries or plum trees and beds of large rhododendron, witch hazel and camellia. The resident native flowering current, hazelnut and Indian plum also bloom early.
Bar-S Playground
Go because: There is large planting of Shirofugen flowering cherry trees and it’s almost baseball season! Take in a game or two at the park’s ballfields.
Alki Beach
Go because: There are so many reasons to visit Alki Beach. In the spring, seasonal display beds all along the sandy beach feature daffodils.
Cormorant Cove
Go because: This lovely waterfront garden park on Puget Sound has beautiful plantings year-round and the views are breathtaking.
Recommandations from: Phil Renfrow, District Gardener, Southwest
Seward Park
Go because: Flowering cherry trees line Lake Washington Boulevard leading into the entrance of the park and surround the bathhouse. Tulips, daffodils and alliums should bloom at the park entrance later this season.
Recommendation from: Jeanne Schollmeyer, Senior Gardener, Southeast
Washington Park Arboretum’s Azalea Way
Go because: The 3-mile roundtrip trail is lined with many flowering, colorful trees and shrubs. It’s a beautiful option for springtime exercise.
Green Lake Park
Go because: The 2.8-mile path around the lake will take you on a tour of flowering dogwoods, flowering cherry trees, daffodils and resident wildlife.
Recommendations by: Kevin Schmidt, Senior Gardener, Northeast