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Master the art of growing stunning climbing roses with this essential guide to creating vibrant, fragrant walls and structures all summer long.

Visiting the University of Washington Department of Biology Greenhouse on the UW campus in Seattle had been on my wishlist for years, however, since they’re only open to the public on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month, the timing had to be just right. I finally got to visit when I was up for the NWFG Festival in February. Here’s the building, see the greenhouses on the far right?

The pickled flowers include Epiphyllum, Selenicereus, and Perekis aculeata and most of them date from 2022.

I tried to keep the labels and the photos in order as I photographed, but wasn’t successful and I’m not going to attempt a matching game. Thus you just get to admire the floating flowers as art.

Leaving the greenhouses, and chatting with the volunteer on duty, I learned there was an old Medicinal Herb Garden on campus, just across the street, in the opposite direction from which I came.

Signage inside that blue building (above).

Since my visit was in February the garden wasn’t at it’s peak, so while looking around for things to photograph I first saw the Garrya elliptica (silk tassel bush), and then the monkeys… what the heck?

From the March 1997 University of Washington magazine: “They hear all evil and see all evil. Unfortunately, they have frequently been the victim of evil. In the 66 years they have rested atop twin 12-foot poles at the entrance of the UW’s Medicinal Herb Garden, two guardian monkeys have repeatedly been sitting ducks to vandals. They have been stolen, smashed, and even changed from wood to cement to make them more theft-proof. Only that didn’t work so well; while the cement monkeys were never stolen again, they were smashed and broken.”

“Two-foot-tall gilded monkeys, carved by UW carpenters, were first placed atop ornate wooden poles in 1930 to keep a symbolic eye on the garden…The original wood-carved figures—said to be copied from Europe’s first medicinal botanical garden in Padua, Italy—lasted until the 1960s, when they rotted and were replaced by another set carved from cedar. In January 1987, one of those monkeys was stolen.”

“Then, David Stone, a UW art graduate, was commissioned by the Friends of the Medicinal Herb Garden, to create a more theft-proof monkey made of cement. Using the remaining wooden monkey as his model, he recast two monkeys, similar to the 1960 simians, and they were dedicated in December 1987. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the solution. The following summer, someone, possibly using a sledge hammer, knocked one monkey off its pedestal and smash one of its legs. That required $500 worth of repairs. Only the 100-pound weight of the cement monkey may have prevented its disappearance.” (source)

The garden itself dates to 1911 when it was created by the School of Pharmacy as a living laboratory. It was once the largest medicinal herb garden in the western hemisphere, of course most medicines are now synthetically created chemical compounds, rather than something created from herbs or natural ingredients.

Physalis peruviana, aka cape gooseberry or goldenberry.

I’d like to think I’ll return in the growing season to see what the garden is like at its prime, however time is always an issue when I’m up in the Seattle area and there’s never enough to do and see everything/everyone that I would like to.

Love the mossy platforms!

Opuntia engelmannii 

Dasylirion wheeleri

Conophytum obscurum is a dwarf succulent that grows in dense clusters of inversely conical bodies consisting of thick, almost entirely …

The post Conophytum obscurum appeared first on World of Succulents.

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This spring has featured a real north-south difference. Degree day totals base 50 degrees Fahrenheit are a few days behind normal in the Upper Peninsula, ramping up to one to two weeks ahead of normal in the southeast Lower Peninsula. Temperatures for the past week showed that same north-south split.…

In 2024, raspberry production in the United States reached 181 million pounds, reflecting a 27% increase from 2023 in comparable states, as reported by the USDA. This increase was facilitated by a 3% rise in harvested acreage, totaling 16,800 acres, and an improvement in yield. The average yield reached 10,800 pounds per acre,…

Last month, I had the privilege of representing Regeneration International at the Uzbek-German Expert Dialogue on Agroecology in Uzbekistan, alongside my dear friend and colleague André Leu, Director of Regeneration International. It was an incredible experience to bring our global network’s voice to this important conversation on transitioning Uzbekistan’s agriculture toward sustainability and climate resilience. André shared powerful global insights on regenerative agriculture, drawing on decades of experience worldwide. He emphasized how practices like soil regeneration, biodiversity enhancement, and ecological balance can restore degraded lands, improve farmer livelihoods, and strengthen food security.

The post Carrying Regenerative Voices to Central Asia: Reflections from Uzbekistan appeared first on Regeneration International.

Healesville sanctuary releases 21 critically endangered birds in hopes a new wild population will thrive

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For the first time in 42 years, critically endangered helmeted honeyeaters have returned to Cardinia in south-east Victoria, where they were found until the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983.

Helmeted honeyeaters are charismatic, energetic and curious, according to Dr Kim Miller, the manager of threatened species at Healesville sanctuary.

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For the second time in under a year, Winterbourne was in the TV spotlight as…

The post Winterbourne joins Alan Titchmarsh’s Gardening Club appeared first on Winterbourne House and Garden.

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