Easter weekend was a great day to visit the now-finally-fully-open National Arboretum and snap some spring sunshine for you guys. It’s just a 15-minute drive from my house, and I cycled around its 446 acres often during the pandemic when its buildings were closed.
This gem in the Northeast part of Washington, D.C. is little known to residents outside the neighborhood. It’s nice to see its bonsai collection attracting busloads of Asian tourists, and I often see groups of kids on field trips there.
I’m told that a big expensive improvement is coming in 2025 – a bridge from the Arboretum across the Anacostia River. It’ll connect to a large underserved community there.
The Administration Building is an award-winning example of modernist architecture.
The koi are finally back, too.
Outside the Bonsai and Penjing Museum, a Japanese maple with peonies.
Another view, with visitors galore.
No blooms here, but none needed to catch me eye – the chartreuse maple leaves and expert pruning are enough.
Inside, these bonsai examples are just so cool.
The Capitol Columns always draw a crowd. Pano view.
Honestly, my eyes went right to the mostly-weed meadow around the columns, and the big question I’d love to get answered: How do they get rid of all the weeds? The perennial obstacle in meadow-making being how to get rid of weeds without massive use of herbicides. Massive use of volunteers?
And what’s going on with the design? The gorgeous amsonia+aster fall color combo is greatly missed – all the asters are gone.
The Children’s Garden is coming to life, with these native honeysuckle blooms just about to pop.
One of my favorite scenes is this one in the Conifer Collection.
But the big treat was finding this temporary outdoor exhibit from Chapter 1 of Ikebana International. I knew nothing about Ikebana but was about to be schooled.
“Passage of Time” in the Sogestu School
“Fortitude” in the Sogestu School
“Palm Spring” in the Sangetsu School
“Nagame” in the Saga Goryu School
“Spring is at our Door” in the Ohara School
“Heartbreak” in the Ichio School
“Meditation” in the Ichinobo School
For more schooling on this fascinating art form, you can listen to the artists describing their works.
Thank you that was beautiful. Miss visiting the Arboretum. It’s probably been 15 years. Looking forward to visiting again!
Very nice, but where you see “weeds”, I see plants for pollinators such as dandelion. We see very different things. I value your view, but I don’t think you and I will ever look at a meadow or a landscape in the same way.
Oh, I should clarify that my perspective is as the garden workers in charge of this meadow, and assuming they will be removing the weeds somehow. BUt I wonder if I can find out exactly what their maintenance philosophy and practices are. Meadows, at least in this area, become overridden with invasives if they aren’t maintained somehow or other. It’s usually a work in progress coz the answers aren’t obvious.
How fortunate to have such a beautiful place only a short drive away!
I was hoping for a view of the Korean Mt Ash (Sorbus alnifolia) that so impressed me in the parking lot. I saw them in the fall, with silver bark and red berries. Since then, I’ve planted one in Maryland, North Carolina, and eastern Nebraska, my current residence. It’s doing well 25 years after arriving as a 4” rooted cutting out of Florida. Protected from rabbits when young, it’s now 20+ ft. Hope they are still there so I can see them on my next trip east.