Walking Map
Arboretum Entry Garden
In the Entry Garden, an information kiosk marks a courtyard of lawns bordered by ornamental grasses, flowering vines, bright dahlias, conifers and specimen trees.
Four different paths lead from here to 15 more gardens.
#1 on the map
Dahlia Garden
Many visitors are drawn to the Dahlia Garden, a party of color that blooms just as other plantings quiet down for winter.
The flowers are donated by the Puget Sound Dahlia Association and maintained by Arb at South volunteers.
#2 on the map
Tropical Garden
The Tropical Garden, designed by a student for a sheltered yet sunny spot, features palms; succulents including agave and yucca, miscanthus, and other xeric grasses in a new contrast to the Arboretum’s established conifers and woody perennials.
#3 on the map
Sensory Garden
The large Sensory Garden, a favorite setting for weddings and small events, features four corners of mature plantings that are fragrant, textural, tactile or edible.
An arbor topped with kiwi vine leads west to more gardens, including the remarkable Coenosium Rock Garden.
#4 on the map
Helen Sutton Rose Garden
More than 100 varieties of hybrid tea, floribunda, grandiflora and English roses have populated the Helen Sutton Rose Garden.
The entire garden is currently under renovation, and the roses will return when completed.
#5 on the map
Coenosium Rock Garden
With more than 300 different conifers, the Coenosium Rock Garden represents the best dwarf conifer collection in the western U.S.
The Asian-influenced landscape leads through a variety of miniature or rare conifers, and soothes with the tranquil spill of a stream.
#6 on the map
Coenosium Rock Garden Pavillion
With more than 300 different conifers, the Coenosium Rock Garden Pavillion represents the best dwarf conifer collection in the western U.S.
The Asian-influenced landscape leads through a variety of miniature or rare conifers, and soothes with the tranquil spill of a stream.
#6a on the map
Waterwise Perennial Garden
The renovated Waterwise Perennial Garden displays low-maintenance perennials that provide food for pollinators and color in dry conditions.
Ceanothus, lavender, coneflowers, grasses and trees surround a small pergola and benches: A spot to rest, hear the stream and watch the birds.
#7 on the map
Acer Garden
Near a rustic Pavilion on the north edge of the Coenosium, a beautiful variety of slowly maturing maple trees congregate in the Acer Garden, including stripebark, Japanese, paperbark and laceleaf maples.
#8 on the map
Sequoia Grove
In the Sequoia Grove, find young specimens of the giants: the Coast Redwood (world's tallest tree), Dawn Redwood and Giant Sequoia (world's largest tree).
The Coast Redwood grows nearly 400 feet tall in the northern California coastal forests for which it is named.
#9 on the map
Mabel Davis Garden
A gentle slope leads to the Mabel Davis Garden of flowering plants and evergreens.
This garden is home to the Gazebo, with open views of the Seattle skyline and pagoda roofs of the Seattle Chinese Garden.
#10 on the map
Milton Sutton Dwarf Conifer Garden
The Milton Sutton Dwarf Conifer Garden features another large selection of unusual conifers.
Many of these evergreen shrubs or trees are quite small but decades old.
#11 on the map
Mert & Beth Dawley Garden
A landscaping construction program graduate designed the plan and built the footbridge for the Mert & Beth Dawley Garden.
This intriguing garden provides enough water and shade for huge-leaved gunnera and more than 20 fern varieties.
#12 on the map
H. C. Erickson Garden
The H. C. Erickson Garden is reminiscent of the donor’s Norwegian birthplace, a small mountainous island of heather, conifers and birches.
A quiet stream continues from the center of the Arb into this garden.
#13 on the map
C & C Malmo Garden
The C & C Malmo Garden, a memorial to father & son Seattle nurserymen Charles and Clark, features rhododendrons and natives among mature oaks and conifers.
A deck tops the stream and leads to other gardens.
#14 on the map
Chinese Garden
Under the guidance of the Seattle City Council and Seattle's Department of Parks and Recreation, the Seattle Chinese Garden Society was founded to coordinate the development of this garden. The Chinese Garden is located near the SSCC Arboretum and visitors are welcome.
The Song Mei Pavilion, designed and fabricated in Seattle's sister city, Chongqing, China, and assembled here by a team of Chinese artisans, is the first of many planned structures in the six-acre garden. Visit the web site of the Seattle Chinese Garden Society to learn more about the history of the garden and its design.
Chinese Garden Symbol on the map