Seattle is a riot of color. The Spring weather has been typical, a little rain, a little sun but overall not too cold. But the biggest difference was the mild winter. Everything is in full bloom without any winter damage. The Rhodies are the best that I’ve seen in a couple of years.

We spent Sunday visiting gardens. We had not yet been to Lakewold Gardens this year. Lakewold is our favorite garden estate in the region. We might be a little late for the rhododendrons but we could catch the Chilean Fire Bush in full bloom. The irises were blooming in the neighborhood so we wanted to stop at the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden to hopefully catch the bearded irises in bloom. The King County Iris Society has a nice display bed. And we wanted to return to Bellevue Botanical Garden to see what it looked like a month after our last visit.

I’m going to start with the last garden – Bellevue Botanical Garden. Wow – were we in for a surprise! Our last visit was about a month ago. The garden was filled with early spring flowering trees and bulbs. We had noticed something was changing in the entry bed but we had no idea the extent of the change.

We drove up Main Street and were shocked when we saw the cyclone fence, the backhoes and stacked logs of fallen trees. The entrance and area next to the rock garden is now fully under construction. And so is the parking lot. The signs directed us back to Wilberton Hill Playfield and the back entrance to the Yeo Garden.

We reviewed the information sign in the lot. They are constructing a new Visitor and Educational Center along with redoing the parking. It is scheduled to be completed in 2014. The garden is open and still beautiful so do visit.

But we were still surprised. We were a little sad to see the Davidia tree at the entrance was gone and we suspect the great Stachyurus praecox in the parking lot may also be gone. But what is a garden without change! We look forward to watching the completed garden grow.

Here are some shots of the construction areas.

View from the Alpine Garden

The old entrance area. The Sharp Cabin will be moving

We think the Sharp Cabin will be moving to this area

And now for some flowers – Lots of beautiful color especially alliums and irises

Waterwise Garden