Bellevue Botanical Garden

I am often asked to name my favorite part of Bellevue Botanical Garden. Like a good parent, I don’t choose favorites among my loved ones. However, the Urban Meadow, being the baby of the family, continues to have a strong tug on my heartstrings. This project was born of necessity when we built new facilities and installed a mitigation wetland, leaving a blighted lawn along our frontage. We transformed this eyesore into a shining beacon of beauty and year-round interest through masses of grasses, perennials and stone. When I first conceived the idea, I took our staff on a field trip to Tucquala Meadow for inspiration and to demonstrate my notion of basking stones. During installation, we invited our ten garden partner groups to each plant a section so all would feel connected to this shared and welcoming space. The Urban Meadow grand opening coincided with the Garden’s 25th Anniversary, a milestone I share personally, being the first staff person hired at the Garden when it opened to the public in 1992. As we approach our 30th anniversary in 2022, I marvel that the joy of shepherding and sharing this beautiful place never gets old.