We express deep gratitude towards the Suquamish People, People of the Clear Salt Water, for sustaining the land within which our healing landscapes thrive.

My surroundings taught me to listen actively. Nature taught me how FULL it is! I am certain my experience at Bloedel Reserve has made me a better artist.

Nicole Otero, 2024 Creative Resident

There is a magical quality to Bloedel Reserve, unlike any other place I’ve visited. I am once transformed, energized, inspired, relaxed, and released from daily cares to be completely present with my own soul and the wonders of nature.

Strolls for Well-Being Participant

As a Community Creative, I was granted full access to the Reserve and was witness to the slow and steady turning of the seasons; starting with the barrenness of winter, the magical burst of spring, the long days of summer followed by the fading beauty and contraction of Autumn.

Amy Pleasant, 2024 Community Creative 

The first time I visited the Reserve, a calmness settled into my heart. Every time I visit, I am embraced by the place and reminded how much I love these ever-changing landscapes.

Donor

Welcome to Bloedel Reserve.

Peace and serenity, nature at its finest. Do yourself a favor and visit Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. Don’t be in a hurry. Take your time.

Visitor

…being present in nature elevates and nurtures the human spirit, heals hearts and minds, and enriches our communities, and our world.

Virginia Bloedel

We walked the grounds with tears and great appreciation for Nature’s bounty… and gratitude for a much needed rest.

Visitor

One of the country’s most original and ambitious gardens.

The New York Times

Nature can do without man, but man cannot do without nature.

Prentice Bloedel

One of North America’s 10 Best Botanical Gardens

USA Today, 2020

Find your Nature

Bloedel Reserve is a 140-acre wonder of nature, created by the imagination, vision, and a passionate love of the natural world shared by our founders, Prentice and Virginia Bloedel. Working with the rugged geography of the land, they artfully transformed a rough-hewn Northwest forest into a harmonious series of curated gardens, structural features, and distinctive landscapes, with nature as canvas and paint.

  • May Plant of the Month

    May 2025 LATIN NAME: Podophyllum sp COMMON NAME: Mayapple FAMILY: Berberidaceae TYPE: Herbaceous perennial ORIGIN: Afghanistan to China; Southeast Canada to the Central and Eastern US LOCATION AT BLOEDEL RESERVE: Arrival Garden and Rhododendron Glen GARDEN USES: Woodland Garden FUN FACT: Not an apple at all, and not always blooming right [...]

  • Nature in Action: Walks That Restore and Enliven the Spirit

    Have you ever noticed how your mindset improves after a walk in nature? A sense of calm seems to settle in after time spent outdoors. Nature invites us to witness the layered purple and crimson hues of a sunset, to pause and admire magnolia buds unfurling in their unique splendor, [...]

  • Tending Minds and Moss

    Since early 2024, Bloedel Reserve has teamed up with the Bainbridge Island School District (BISD) Adult Living Program to provide work experience for the program’s students. The students spend an hour and a half, one day a week, at Bloedel Reserve assisting the gardening crew with tasks, usually in the [...]

  • Shaping Tradition: The Art of Pine Candling

    If you visit the Japanese Garden at Bloedel Reserve during May, you might catch a glimpse of Japanese Garden Caretaker Bob Braid performing a time-honored horticultural ritual: pine candling. With steady hands and a careful eye, Bob trims the prominent upright buds—known as “candles”—from the branch tips of our pine [...]

Upcoming Events

Open to the public since 1988, Bloedel Reserve is now a nonprofit organization devoted to nurturing the land through a broad range of engagement opportunities. Take one of our workshops or attend an event to dive into the often mysterious, constantly changing, and always rewarding world of horticulture.

Saturday Story Time at the Residence

Saturday Story Time at the Residence

Saturday Story Time at the Residence

Saturday Story Time at the Residence

Saturday Story Time at the Residence

Saturday Story Time at the Residence

Saturday Story Time at the Residence

Saturday Story Time at the Residence

Welcome Wednesday

Welcome Wednesday

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Land Acknowledgement

The history of the land on which Bloedel Reserve sits extends back much farther than the Bloedels. We’d like to acknowledge the history of this land.

dibəł čəł ti Bloedel Reserve.
We are the Bloedel Reserve.

We express deep gratitude towards the Suquamish People, People of the Clear Salt Water, for sustaining the land within which our healing landscapes thrive. Those entrusted with caring for Bloedel Reserve acknowledge that the sacred ancestral territory on which the Reserve resides flourishes because of the stewardship, since time immemorial, by the Suquamish people. We will honor and respect their legacy by nurturing this land and the waterways of the Central Salish Sea for present and future generations.

ʔugʷiitubułəd čəł ʔugʷabitubuł.
We invite you to join us.

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