{"id":3579,"date":"2025-06-14T16:08:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T23:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wrwofficial.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/14\/cleos-spring-garden-in-washington\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T16:08:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T23:08:57","slug":"cleos-spring-garden-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wrwofficial.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/14\/cleos-spring-garden-in-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleo\u2019s Spring Garden in Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Happy Friday, GPODers!<\/p>\n

On Wednesday we saw Linda\u2019s lovely woodland garden on Lookout Mountain (Linda\u2019s Garden on a Mountain<\/a>), yesterday we saw pretty pink blooms from Lila\u2019s garden in Mill Creek (Lila\u2019s Azaleas<\/a>), and today we\u2019re wrapping up this mini spring tour of Washington with Cleo Raulerson in Bellevue. Cleo has already shared her gorgeous garden in fall and winter (Late October in Cleo\u2019s Back Garden<\/a> and Cleo\u2019s Washington Garden in Winter<\/a>), and today we finally get to see her space as the weather warms up and plants wake from their winter slumber. Cleo always includes so much fabulous information on her plants, so I will waste no time and get straight to the good stuff.<\/p>\n

Spring is my favorite time of the year, especially in the garden. We are fortunate in Western Washington to have a long spring to watch the new leaves and spring flowers emerge and grow. Here are 2025 photos of some of my favorite spring plants and garden scenes.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>Leaves of our laceleaf Japanese maple (<\/em>Acer<\/a> palmatum var. <\/em>dissectum atropurpureum \u2018Ever Red\u2019<\/em>, Zones 5\u20138)<\/em>, planted 36 years ago, just beginning to emerge in early April with two Magic Carpet spirea<\/em> (<\/em>Spiraea<\/a> japonica \u2018Walbuma\u2019<\/em>, Zones 4\u20139)<\/em>\u00a0in the foreground<\/em><\/p>\n

\"spring<\/a>Ten days later, the laceleaf Japanese maple on the left is mostly leafed in. Shrubs left to right: Snowflake oakleaf hydrangea<\/em> (<\/em>Hydrangea quercifolia<\/a> \u2018Brido\u2019<\/em>, Zones 5\u20139)<\/em>, violet-blue flowers of \u2018Crater Lake\u2019 rhododendron<\/em> (<\/em>Rhododendron<\/a> \u2018Crater Lake\u2019<\/em>, Zones 6\u20138)<\/em>, and Shindeshojo Japanese maple<\/em> (<\/em>Acer palmatum \u2018Shindeshojo\u2019<\/em>, Zones 5\u20139)<\/em> in its initial red leaf color (then green leaves in summer and coral-red leaves in autumn). The Bellevue skyline is in the background.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"flower<\/a>The metal blue allium sculptures are a favorite topic on garden tours. In April, white summer snowflake (<\/em>Leucojum<\/a> aestivum \u2018Gravetye Giant\u2019<\/em>, Zones 4\u20138)<\/em> is blooming on the left, next to blue camas<\/em> (<\/em>Camassia<\/a> leichtlinii \u2018Blue Danube\u2019<\/em>, Zones 3\u20138)<\/em>. Pink \u2018Bow Bells\u2019 rhododendron<\/em> (<\/em>Rhododendron \u2018Bow Bells\u2019<\/em>, Zones 6\u20139)<\/em> is just starting to bloom on the right.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"spring<\/a>One of my favorite spring scenes, with \u2018Redleaf\u2019 Roger\u2019s flower (<\/em>Rodgersia<\/a> podophylla \u2018Rotlaub\u2019<\/em>, Zones 5\u20139)<\/em> just emerging; an ancient Exbury azalea adding a bright pop of apricot color, which is echoed in the glass goldfish; and other plantings. The small white flowers in the back are dwarf fothergilla<\/em> (<\/em>Fothergilla<\/a> gardenii \u2018Blue Mist\u2019<\/em>, Zones 5\u20138)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"shrub<\/a>Close-up of redvein enkianthus<\/a> (<\/em>Enkianthus campanulatus, Zones 5\u20138)<\/em> in full bloom. This is a great year-round shrub.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"plant<\/a>One of our favorite subalpine wildflowers on Mt. Rainier is the mophead<\/em> (<\/em>Pulsatilla<\/a> occidentalis syn. <\/em>Anemone occidentalis, Zones 3\u20138)<\/em>. Its European cousin, pasque flower<\/em> (<\/em>Pulsatilla vulgaris, Zones 4\u20138)<\/em>, happily grows at sea level, so we can have a reminder of our great Mt. Rainier hikes in our urban garden.<\/em> Pulsatilla vulgaris blooms in shades of purple\/mauve in March, then the white-gray mopheads last well into summer.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"light<\/a>Close-up of yak rhodie blooms<\/em> (<\/em>Rhododendron yakushimanum \u2018Koichiro Wada\u2019<\/em>, Zones 5\u20139)<\/em>. This pale pink flower fits well into the garden; then we can enjoy the new silvery leaves with a covering of fine, felty hairs later in the spring.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"small<\/a>I love blue flowers. Hubricht\u2019s bluestar (<\/em>Amsonia<\/a> hubrichtii, Zones 5\u20138)<\/em> is wonderful. Here are the blue spring flowers; then the slender green leaves sway in the breeze all summer and turn bright yellow in the autumn. Magenta flowers on the left are the hyacinth orchid<\/em> (<\/em>Bletilla striata, Zones 5\u20139)<\/em>, which I got from my aunt\u2019s Maryland garden.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"orange<\/a>Part of our garden is damp clay. Sixteen years ago, I bought seven plants of this candelabra primrose<\/em> (<\/em>Primula<\/a> \u00d7 <\/em>bulleesiana, Zones 4\u20137)<\/em>. The seed heads are left on most of the summer. I now have a wandering stream of these primroses, which is a garden favorite.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you so much for this fantastic spring tour of your garden, Cleo! Your space is filled with so many interesting and eye-catching plants in every season; we greatly appreciate the time you take to identify each one.<\/p>\n

I cannot believe that next week is already the end of spring! This season absolutely flew by, but I\u2019m thrilled with how many fabulous spring gardens we\u2019ve been treated to over the past few months. If you would like your spring garden featured on the blog before summer photos flood our inbox, consider sharing your photos this weekend! Follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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We want to see YOUR garden!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Have photos to share? We\u2019d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!<\/p>\n

To submit, send 5\u201310 photos to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We\u2019d love to hear where you are located, how long you\u2019ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.<\/p>\n

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on\u00a0Facebook,<\/a>\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0with #FineGardening!<\/p>\n

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