Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way

Down in Federal Way, there is a rhododendron garden.  It is next to the bonsai garden I have posted about previously but we hadn’t visited it before.  We took a trip down when the rhododendrons should have been getting into bloom.  The garden is a strange location since it is tucked in between two freeways.  While you are walking around lots of lovely greenery, you can’t escape the rumble of traffic nearby.

Unlike some gardens that have a very manicured feel to them, this feels a lot more organic in the layout.  I am sure there is a lot of planning that went in to the design but it feels like it is a natural growth.  Supposedly, it has the largest collection of rhododendrons in the world.  Not sure who verifies such things but it was certainly large.

It isn’t just rhododendrons, though.  Lots of other plants are scattered around the place.  They have a meadow that has blue poppies in it.  They are lovely looking flowers if a little fragile looking.  There is a glasshouse in the middle of the garden and we took a wander around in there but, with the sun out, it was pretty hot and humid in there so we didn’t spend too long.

The blooms were not extensive when we visited so it didn’t have the same feel as we got on our first visit to Meerkerk, for example.  However, as a garden with a wide variety of plants and color, it was certainly a great place to wander about and I suspect we will be back there in the future.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *