Rhodys In Abundance

Sunday I traveled with my friend, Janet, to Sequim to catch the last day of the Sequim Art Show and to pick up my watercolor painting. Janet suggested we stop at the rhododendron garden on our way.

I had never been to Whitney Gardens & Nursery in Brinnon, Washington, and what a RARE TREAT. Whitney Gardens is at the foot of the Olympic Mountains and has the most beautiful array of rhododendron hybrids and species in the Northwest nestled among rare trees and ponds. Also in abundance are azaleas, magnolias, maples, conifers, kalmias, camellias, perennials, trees, shrubs and ground cover. It is definitely a breathtaking experience especially when the rhodys are in full bloom as we experienced.

My favorite was this Rhody tree whose name I have misplaced.


The small greenhouses of rhododendrons were organized by colors and one greenhouse had fragrant varieties.


I especially like the colors and rows of maples.

Red Flowering Currant

Now in bloom, the red flowering currant is one of the most beloved and showy of native northwest shrubs. The brilliant display of carmine red flowers in spring are welcomed by gardeners and hummingbirds alike.

A few facts:

Red-flowering currant is native to western coastal North America from central British Columbia to central California. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 4 m tall. The bark is dark brownish-grey with prominent paler brown lenticels. The leaves are 2-7 cm long and broad, with five palmate lobes; when young in spring, they have a strong resinous scent. The early spring flowers emerge at the same time as the leaves, on racemes 3-7 cm long with 5-30 flowers. Each flower is 5-10 mm diameter, with five red or pink petals. The fruit is dark purple oval berry 1 cm long, edible but bland.