From Our Backyard to Yours

Posted: 11/27/2020

Conservation & Stewardship:
Dealing with Deer

Seeing the many varieties of wildlife that migrate through and make their homes at Bloedel Reserve is another great reason to visit. Spotting a deer at the Reserve can be thrilling. But as any gardener will tell you, these gorgeous visitors can also mean trouble for plants and young trees.

Posted: 11/20/2020

Creativity & Inspiration:
Naoko Morisawa, Mosaic in Progress

As Naoko Morisawa finshes out her November residency, she has shared more images with us, of both some earlier wood mosaics as well as of the progress she has made on her “magical moss garden” mosaic. You can see those images here. You can read more about Naoko and see images of some of her large-scale work here.

Posted: 11/14/2020

Creativity & Inspiration:
Congratulations to the 2021 Creative Residents

We’re pleased to announce the names of the Creative Residents who will be spending time at the Reserve in 2021. They represent a wide range of disciplines from journalism and ecology to poetry and painting to book art and canoe-carving.

We were overwhelmed by the number of people who applied this year and the quality and diversity of the work we saw. Thank you to everyone who submitted an application.

Coming soon: Artist photos and biographies, so you can learn more about these talented Creative Residents.

Posted: 11/14/2020

Creativity & Inspiration:
Works in Progress from Naoko Morisawa

Naoko Morisawa has begun sketching, painting, and exploring creative possibilities inspired by her observations in the Moss Garden and the Japanese Garden at Bloedel Reserve. Here Naoko captures some of the process she uses to get from sketch to mosaic.

Posted: 11/14/2020

Horticulture & Design:
Maintaining a Moss Garden

Moss gardens have been around a long time, especially in Japan, but are only recently gaining popularity in the U.S. Darren Strenge, Bloedel Reserve’s Moss Garden expert, shares advice for properly maintaining your own moss garden.  And if you’d like to see how the experts do it,  be sure to plan a visit to Bloedel Reserve, which has one of the few public moss gardens in the country.

Posted: 11/06/2020

Creativity & Inspiration:
Art from Naoko Morisawa

Naoko Morisawa is a visual artist who has just begun her Creative Residency at Bloedel Reserve. Her wood mosaics are stunningly beautiful studies in color, texture, and form.

In her first week at the Reserve, she has created this video, demonstrating her exceptional skills as a painter and illustrator as well. We can’t wait to see what she does next.

Posted: 11/6/2020

Horticulture & Design: November Plant of the Month

Sean Peterson from the Grounds and Horticulture team has made his plant pick for November and it’s a beauty. The Nikko Maple is one of the showiest maples on the Bloedel grounds with its leaves ranging from pinks to oranges and reds this time of year.

To see the entire gallery of monthly plant picks for 2020, click here.

Posted: 11/6/2020

Horticulture & Design:
Just How Big Were Those Pumpkins?!?

When Bloedel Reserve Gourd Guru Philip Bloomquist sets out to grow giant pumpkins, he doesn’t mess around. This year, we had two monster pumpkins — Jeffrey and Nettlebane — on display during our October Super Squash Scavenger Hunt.

And we invited guests to guess their weight and circumference for a chance to win $35 gift certificates from The Shop at Bloedel Reserve. Here’s how it all turned out:

• Jeffery weighed 1,104 pounds — Benjamin T. was the closest with a guess of 1,100 pounds,
• Jeffery measured 165 inches around — Mia E. was spot on with her guess of exactly 165 inches!
• Nettlebane weighed 762 pounds — Amy D. won with a guess of 761 pounds.
• Nettlebane measured 128 inches around — Angela T. was one of 3 people to guess exactly 128 inches. Her name was chosen as the winner by a random online picker.

Congratulations to all of the winners! Kudos to Philip for the amazing pumpkins. If you missed it earlier, here’s the answer key to the questions on the Squash Hunt map. Many thanks to everyone who took part in our October squash-stravangza!