Pt. Defiance Rhododendron Garden

After three years of trying to portray the exquisite beauty of the Pt. Defiance Rhododendron Garden through mere photographs I’ve decided it’s impossible. Photographs may convey the beauty of certain specimens but can never adequately convey the setting that makes this garden so special.

A photo reduces a twenty-foot-tall rhododendron to a mere nine inches. You look down on it rather than looking up at it.

White Rhododendron in Forest

A plant that would appear gaudy standing alone in a yard, takes on a new dimension when viewed in its proper context, or at least relatively proper context since few of us are liable to see it in a forest in China or even in the Cascades.

Pink Rhodendron on Bank

Of course, there are also specimens, like this one

Small Rhododendron plant

you may want to plant in your own front yard, particularly when you’re able to see the flowers up-close-and-personal.

Red Rhododendron

If you live in the Tacoma area and want to see the garden at its best, NOW is the time to go because earlier varieties are starting to lose their flowers and later varieties

Purple Rhododendron

are already starting to bloom.

3 thoughts on “Pt. Defiance Rhododendron Garden”

  1. Last photo is particularly lovely – you must have been doing a lot of changing position to get the bloom almost isolated against the green background!

    The whole post reminds me of a magical day with a friend of mine in the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh when there was a glorious display of azaleas as well as rhodedendrons… we spent so much time sampling the different scents that we gave ourselves headaches!

  2. Your pictures are lovely. And your last sentence reminded me how lucky I was to have visited China in 2005, and to have climbed Emei Shan, which was an amazing experience. It was too early for the azaleas and rhododendrons to be blooming, but it was glorious nevertheless. Your pictures remind me also of the rhododendrons and azaleas that grow all over Ireland. In fact, I named my daughter after the latter.

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