December in the Arboretum

Deck the Boughs:

The boughs are decked! Visit the Arboretum in December and enjoy the birds (both real and crocheted), decorations made from natural and recycled materials, and the beauty of the gardens in winter.

Solstice events to enjoy:

We will also be celebrating the Solstice and the coming of longer days on December 21st at 7:53 a.m. with a sunrise walk through the Arboretum guided by board member and Master Gardener, Lee Borgata. Bring your luminary to help light the way and welcome the beginning of longer days.

Hot beverages and sweet treats provided, followed by family crafting from 10 a.m. to noon. The crown shown to the right is just one example of what you can make and take home. The family crafting is free and all materials are provided.

Oh no! No lights?

We know some visitors are mourning the loss of the evening lights. We loved them, too, but the cost in dollars and time (750 hours last year--a lot for a small organization), and the wear and tear on our aging bodies resulted in this shift to a less resource intensive daytime event. You can find free evening light displays elsewhere, but we hope you will enjoy the low-key but still colorful decorations as you take a stroll through the Arboretum. And if you come on December 21 between 10:00 a.m. and noon, you can make this cute little gnome to deck your boughs.

When You Wish Upon a Tree...

New this year is a wishing tree, actually three wishing trees. Wishing trees are trees used as an object of wishes and offerings. Postulants make offerings in hopes of having a wish granted, or a prayer answered. They have a long tradition in Great Britain, with hopeful visitors hang offerings such as shoes, cloth or ribbon strips, coins, and wassail-soaked toast in the trees.

Please don't hang any of those items in our trees. But please do write your wish on the red and green tags provided in the kiosk and affix them to one of the trees near the entry designated as wishing trees. Wishes can be global or personal. Maybe you wish for world peace, to end hunger, or just to have your kids pick up their dirty clothes!

It Takes a Village: Thank you to our volunteers and partners

We have such terrific volunteers, willing to come out on cold, damp days to hang birds, pom poms, tassels, and stars for your viewing pleasure. We also have volunteers who sit and home and make the birds, the tassels, and pom poms. And volunteers who come to workshops to make stars and pom poms. And we have community partners such as Great Yarns and the YMCA who host workshops for us.

When you see people working in the Arboretum (we try to wear name tags to distinguish ourselves from City employees), please know these are volunteers who give of their time to make the Arboretum the special place that it is.

Pom pom making at Great Yarns. We all look pretty serious, but we met new people and enjoyed our time together.

Long time volunteer Gary Riggs holds up a bulrush star he hung on the star magnolia by the columns.

A New Sculpture and Progress in the Backyard Garden

Jeremy Kester and his basalt and granite sculpture, A Slice of Time. The sculpture was installed just in time for Deck the Boughs and is next to the Arboretum's stone sign and across from the Master Gardener border.

The installation of Gegham Abrahamayan's Echo of Eden, is now complete with a concrete base and gravel paths allowing visitors easy viewing access. Landscaping to is yet to come. The wildflowers were such a hit, they may return.

Who's Visiting the Arboretum?

The baby (upper left) wins the award for cutest human visitor (observed by your editor) in November. She was there with her extended family for group photos and, according to her father, was very interested in watching us hang pom poms.

Edmonds College horticulture program members (upper right) visited for a plant identification class. Holly, on the right, was part of the landscape class that helped design the Backyard Garden. It was great to meet her in person after only seeing her on Zoom.

Nuffy, a Cavaliere King Charles Spaniel puppy pictured lower left, wins the prize for cutest animal visitor in November.

Not one, but two, Picardy Shepherds took a stroll through the gardens. They may look a bit intimidating--especially the dark coated male--but were very friendly. His white eyebrows and whiskers almost gave him the edge over Nuffy in the cute animal category.

Giving Tuesday: More plants, please!

December 2nd is Giving Tuesday, and we hope you will think of the Arboretum. This past summer we cleared overgrown and dead shrubs and a lot of irises from the kiosk and star magnolia north to the beginning of the Small Tree Walk. We are now working on redesigning that area and hope to begin replanting in the spring.

So what do we need? More plants, of course--and your donations to help us buy them. Just click on the button below to contribute to more plants for the Arboretum!

The Master Gardeners have put the Gunnera to bed for the winter.

Support Your Arboretum by Joining Today. We Need You More Than Ever.