Vista Gardens

The Gardens

In the Pacific Northwest, we are so lucky to have such a diverse group of Public Gardens to educate and inspire us.

Gillian Mathews, Ravenna Gardens

My favorite garden is the renovated Olmsted plantings in Volunteer Park; it was a collaborative process in public garden design involving historic Olmsted plans, the Park department’s permit process, fundraising, volunteers and maintenance. It was more than the sum of its parts, and a joy to share with the public.

Doug Bayley, garden designer

I loved living and breathing the beautiful clean air of the PNW. Its gardens are truly breathtaking with the high quantity of sunshine and... rain!

Alan Elsbury, administrator, Plant Idents

What a wonderous wealth of west coast flora is to be found in the beautiful gardens of the Puget Sound! As someone who has spent 30 years photographing and writing about gardens throughout the world, it is always such a delight to find myself in gardens in and around Seattle.

Janet Davis, www.thepaintboxgarden.com

As an editor for a publisher that specializes in gardening books, I'm astonished by the horticultural richness and variety of the public gardens of the Puget Sound. Not only are the gardens themselves endlessly inspiring; they have nurtured some of the best garden writers of our time.

Tom Fischer, senior acquisitions editor, Timber Press

Pacific Northwest public gardens provide occasions for beauty and refuge within our urban environment. Surrounded by color, fragrance and birdsong, they inspire, inform and place us right where we belong, in a healthy relationship with nature. Wonder awaits.

Lorene Edwards Forkner, former editor of Pacific Horticulture magazine, GROW columnist in The Seattle Times

Although it is not a park or public garden, I am always blown away by the planting at University Village Mall. For more than a decade, the planting has been interesting, trend-setting and very well-maintained. It is light years away from 'Mall Planting', and more like what you want at home if you knew a plant genius with lots of money. Go there! ... it is also a plant-lover's dream!

Thomas Hobbs, Southlands Nursery, Vancouver, B.C.

My senses are inspired by the beauty in gardens year round! From a small seedling magically propelling its way to the surface, to the skeletal remains of winter, a reminder of the cycle and miracle of life.

Jan Hopkins, sculptural fiber artist, working with natural materials, containingnature

Public gardens are living works of art that provide an escape from the over-stimulation of our daily routines. They serve as oasis where we can relax our minds and refocus on the beauty of the natural world, even if it's a human-made landscape. Public gardens make me want to rip out my gardens with a backhoe and start over again. Envy!

Eric Shalit, designer and naturalist

We on the East Coast look enviously at the diverse and lovely gardens of the Puget Sound area. Huge trees, wonderful climate, amazing plants, but even more importantly, incredible people developing gardens. Definitely worth a trip.

R. William Thomas, Executive Director, Chanticleer Garden, Wayne, PA

As a frequent visitor to Seattle, the first thing I do after getting off the plane is to visit a public garden. There is always something new to see, unfamiliar plants to learn about, and garden sights that can just stop you in your tracks. Blessed with a mild climate, a bountiful supply of new and unusual plants, and a downright quirky notion of how you can bend the gardening rules, there is always inspiration and beauty to savor and take home.

Bill Noble, author, preservationist

The Puget Sound region is rich with botanical treasures with our many public arboreta and gardens. These exquisite gardens are actually living museums, maintaining invaluable trees, shrubs and native plants, many rare varieties, in their collections. They offer excellent opportunities for learning, experiencing and interacting with plants and native wildlife for people from all walks of life. Public support of our botanical gardens is critical so that these treasures can be maintained for future generations.

Janet Endsley, Seminar Manager, Northwest Flower & Garden Festival

It is always a delight to visit the Puget Sound area and partake of its broad array of public gardens, from small(ish) once-private gardens like the Dunn Gardens to the expansive acreage of the Washington Park Arboretum, and from the obsessiveness of a collector’s garden like Heronswood to the rich educational offerings of the Bellevue Botanical Garden.

Richard Turner, editor emeritus, Pacific Horticulture

I love the breadth and depth of our public gardens here in Puget Sound. They have drawn me in, inspired and excited my personal connection to horticulture, made me curious about the regional character of our landscapes, and fueled my love for plants, plants, plants! As a longtime garden and home writer, as well as a passionate cutting garden practitioner, I rely on visits to small and large public gardens as muse. These gardens are for everyone to enjoy!

Debra Prinzing, founder and creative director, Slow Flowers

Gardens are why I became a librarian. I love books and especially books about plants, but my first love was for gardens – and in public gardens, I found the breadth of inspiration and horticultural riches that fostered my literary pursuits.

Brian Thompson, Manager and Curator of the Elisabeth C. Miller Horticulture Library

The public gardens in our region have always inspired garden-makers with the stunning diversity of plants we can grow in our climate. This legacy of our horticultural stars – Betty Miller, Carl English, Joe Witt, and others past and present – lives on in the gardens they created.

Michael C. Lee, landscape architect

In the mild, evergreen maritime-influenced cradle of the greater Puget Sound, excited gardeners and exhilarating gardens abound. In a climate allowing one of the broadest botanical palettes available to any region of North America, visitors and residents alike have at their avail inspirational and accessible public gardens both grand and intimate. Despite different scales and approaches, all are bound by a common, regional dedication to the craft of gardening that is as welcoming as it is distinctive, all while being profoundly worthy of exploration.

Dan Hinkley, plant explorer, author, Heronswood founder