You Don’t See One of These Every Day

I haven’t received any urgent garden questions from Wallyhood readers lately, so I decided to take a tour around to see if there were any notable horticultural wonders. Sure enough, I spotted something.

More on that below, but first, a reminder to send your garden questions anytime to me, Jeanie, at [email protected].

So, the horticultural wonder: when they’re not in bloom Chilean fire trees (Embothrium coccineum) blend in to the green background we Seattleites are used to. They tend to be a bit gangly. However, a small grove in bloom is guaranteed to make you slam on the brakes for a closer look. This young one is all alone on a corner lot in Wallingford. The bees love it.

I took a trip over to the south entrance to the Washington Park Arboretum on Arboretum Drive (across from the Pacific Connections exhibit) expecting to see the show-stopping grove I remembered from years ago – I propagated a few from seeds for the Seattle Parks Dept nursery at one time. Alas, there is only one left of the original group, but I was glad to see there were a couple of saplings planted in the Chilean section of Pacific Connections.

Once you see these quirky Chilean expats in bloom you won’t forget them. (Equally as entertaining as the corpse flower at the UW greenhouse, and the show lasts longer.) This lone tall guy it is worth visiting within the next week or so – it is 25 – 30 feet tall. You also get the treat of seeing hummingbirds buzzing around it like bees. There were at least five circling and bickering when I was there.

A number of hardier Chilean plants are popular in our gardens, including the huge Monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), Blechnum chilense – a large fern in the same genus as our deer fern – and a prostrate fern in that genus – Blechnum penna-marina (makes a great groundcover), also fuchsias, barberries, and other familiar garden plants you will see in the Arboretum exhibit. Try them – you’ll like them!