The Ultimate Arboreteum - The Beautiful Bloedel Gardens of Bainbridge Island

The Gate House

If you are ever in Bainbridge Island, Washington you must visit The Bloedel Reserve .  Although we've been to the island at least once a year for the past five years or so, we visited for the first time, yesterday.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect...sunny, warm (sort of), no wind.

The only downside was that I neglected to bring extra batteries for the camera.  Was a little worried that the we might run out of battery before we finished the entire tour.   Big mistake.  It's about a two hour tour so it was important to be selective.   Still got some nice shots, though.  Be sure to click on each one to enlarge it...you won't believe the difference it can make.

The Visitor Center (formerly the residence)

This beautiful abode used to be a private home in an area known as Agate Point.  In 1951 Prentice and Virginia Bloedel acquired the 150 acre property and proceeded to transform it into a beautiful botanical garden by creating ponds, beautiful lawns, gardens and arbors - much like an arboretum.

Fast forward to 1974 when the Bloedels created and endowed The Arbor Fund.  In 1985, the fund purchased the property and continues to protect and maintain The Bloedel Reserve for the enjoyment of everyone who is lucky enough to visit.

We were greeted by a lovely woman at the Gate House and purchased our tickets ($8. each - a real steal, in my opinion.)   They have a little booklet you can borrow for your self-guided tour.  We set off.  Our walk began at "The Meadow"...

 ...where the Bloedels had their sheep!  There's a photo in the Visitor Center to prove it.  There's a barn there that is now a maintenance building but still has that "old barn" spirit.  No sheep anymore, of course.   After passing through the meadow, we followed a bark covered trail and descended into a deeply wooded area...

...which led us to the Bird Marsh or Bird Refuge.   I didn't snap any photos of the Bird Marsh because we had barely started our walk...I had visions of running out of batteries any second.  I should have taken at least one, though, because the Bird Marsh is wonderful.  Reminiscent of a rain garden, I thought.  All is not lost...you can see four or five photos HERE.  (You'll be glad you clicked that link, I promise.)

The original pond in the bird refuge was used as a source of water for the gardens.  It was ultimately expanded which resulted in an excellent wild-life refuge and natural wetlands.  Plantings were chosen to provide food and shelter for the wildlife and the ponds were stocked with trout to attract heron and kingfishers.  Little islands of undisturbed soil were left as nesting places for birds and water fowl.  The ponds were dredged deep enough to keep predators like raccoons from reaching the nests.

From the Bird Marsh we crossed this pretty trestle bridge...

...and descended into a vast second-growth forest and more wetlands lush with grasses and ferns and flowers and old moss covered logs.

Believe it or not, the plant that produces this beautiful yellow flower is called Skunk Cabbage!  I can't get my mind around that one.  Supposedly, it has an odor (didn't smell anything but then we didn't get that close!) and it generates enough heat to melt snow around it.  Actually, it has another name...Swamp Lantern.  I like that much better.

...we walked through a forest of ferns...and crossed a boardwalk...

 ...into more wetlands. 

I don't know what this strange looking striped plant is.  Was going to call the visitor center to see if anyone could tell me but they were closed.  I googled native plants of the Pacific Northwest and looked at a LOT of photos but couldn't find a match...nada.  If I figure it out, I'll post an addendum.  It's way cooler "in person", I can tell you that.

NOTE:  We signed the online guestbook and I left a message with a link to this post asking to be advised of any corrections that I might need to make.  (After all, I want to be as accurate as possible.)  Anyway, I received a very gracious reply and am told that the striped plant is a native plant Equisetum Hyernale otherwise known as Horsetails!  They are an ancient plant and are quite invasive.  By golly, they DO sort of look like horsetails, don't they?

There is moss everywhere!!!

We came to the end of the wooded area and entered into a bright open space approaching the Visitors' Center.  This is the Mid Pond which is really between the visitors' center and the Japanese Garden.  It's lovely.

We arrived at the Visitors' Center...stepped inside to see the photographs which tell the story of the Reserve and visited with two very nice docents.  They answered our questions patiently and then sent us on our way.  The building is surrounded by beautiful trees like this magnolia tree, a copper beech, lots of maple trees and rhododendrons just to name a few.   And it overlooks the harbor.  It's a stunning view and I wish I had taken photos there.

After we left the Visitors' Center we walked down to this waterfall and the Swan pond...sadly we did not see any swans but there are photos of them on the website.

This bridge took us on a winding path...

...past some lovely trees...these are Himilayan white birch trees...

...and gorgeous flowers and shrubs...

One of the most beautiful gardens is the Japanese garden...this is the Stroll Garden which is absolutely beautiful to walk or stroll through.  It's peaceful.  I took this photo from the deck of the guest house (which I did not photograph but if you look HERE you'll be amazed at the scope of this breathtaking garden).

This is the entrance to the Meditation Garden...

The Meditation Garden or Stone Garden is an example of a Zen Garden.

After leaving the Japanese Garden we followed the bark path to the Moss Garden.  To quote the self-guided tour information...

"To create the moss cover, 2200 flats of Irish moss (Sagina subulata) were brought in.  Those flats were cut into little cubes, amounting to 275,000 starts, which were planted about six inches apart, creating a temporary “moss” floor for the garden. The native true mosses then invaded the Irish moss and crowded most of it out in time..."

In all honesty, these photos do not do the Moss Garden justice.  You really ought to follow this LINK at the Bloedel Reserve website for some really excellent photos of this amazing garden.  Really.

One more garden to go!  It's the Reflection Pool.  It was Mrs. Bloedel's favorite garden and it's where she and Mr. Bloedel are buried.  It's so beautiful in its simplicity.

That is a bench at the far end.  Be sure to enlarge this by clicking on the photo for a much better perspective.

The pool itself is about 200 feet long.  The plan took two years to develop and involved studying the water table so the water in the pool could be at that exact level.  The pool level is maintained by natural springs.    Apparently the concrete curb simply holds the turf away from the water.  Isn't that interesting?

After leaving the Reflection Pool we followed this bark path...

...and ended our walk back at the meadow.   We both agreed that it was a wonderful experience and we'd do it again in a heartbeat.  Maybe next trip.

The philosophy and purpose of The Bloedel Reserve reads (in part) that "The Bloedel Reserve is intended to be a place where people may find refreshment and tranquility in the presence of natural beauty."

That it does.