Habitats at Home at the Bellevue Botanical Garden

Located just inside the entrance to Bellevue Botanical Garden, Habitats at Home shows how a beautiful garden can also provide food, water, shelter, and nesting habitat for wildlife.

Created through a partnership between Bellevue Botanical Garden and the WSU Extension King County Master Gardener Program, with funding from King Conservation District, the exhibit combines layered planting, diverse flower forms, year-round bloom, shrubs, logs, leaf litter, and water to support pollinators, birds, insects, and other garden life. The habitat began working almost immediately: a skipper butterfly arrived within minutes of planting, and a frog appeared before the installation was even finished.

The garden’s central lesson is simple: habitat does not require sacrificing beauty. Thoughtful design can create landscapes that are visually compelling, restorative for people, and ecologically valuable.

The three-year rotating installation will remain in place through 2027, giving visitors several seasons to watch it mature and change. Stop by Habitats at Home for ideas you can adapt in your own garden, whether you have a balcony, a small urban lot, or a larger landscape.

Dana Niblack is a King County Master Gardener