Weyerhauser display garden

We drove to Weyerhauser yesterday to see the rhododendron garden and bonsai display, which was open briefly for Mother's Day. The headquarters building is visible from the freeway, and was completed in 1971. With a green growing roof, it's a wonderful integration of landscape and function. As Architecture Week says, "it has withstood the test of time beautifully."

As you leave the freeway and enter company property, the road meanders through beautiful parkland and forest, reminding you what good stewards of the earth the Weyerhauser folks are!
The weather was magnificent-- almost 70!
And the bonsai display is like walking through a living museum. Each one a perfect work of art.
And many were blooming...
In the display garden, there are rare plants and botanical oddities to tempt the covetous gardener, like this fascinating rhododendron. Of course visitors must exit through a plant and gift store, making impulse purchases easy.
The blue Himalayan poppies were blooming by the pond. This is an unreal sky blue, and in the sunshine they were magical. John generously offered to buy me a couple of poppy plants, until I read the care sheet: requires moist woodland soil, shade, protection from freezing, does not bloom for two years, and usually dies after the first bloom. Well, I told him we'll just drive to Weyerhauser once a year to admire them :-)

And credit where credit is due-- John took all the pictures in this post, except for the first one.