Bellevue Demonstration Garden

Bellevue Demonstration Garden The King County Master Gardeners in cooperation with Bellevue Parks & Community Services manage the Lake Hills Greenbelt Urban Demonstration Garden.

🌿 Friday Plant Pick: Broadleaf StonecropCommon name: Broadleaf stonecropBotanical name: Sedum spathulifoliumLooking for ...
08/21/2026

🌿 Friday Plant Pick: Broadleaf Stonecrop

Common name: Broadleaf stonecrop
Botanical name: Sedum spathulifolium

Looking for a low-growing groundcover that fits beautifully into a wildfire-aware landscape? Broadleaf stonecrop is a Pacific Northwest native that forms compact mats of fleshy, blue-green rosettes, usually only a few inches tall. Clusters of cheerful yellow flowers appear in late spring and summer, attracting bees and other pollinators.

Its moisture-rich succulent foliage and low growth make broadleaf stonecrop a good fire-resistant plant choice. It thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, making it especially well suited to rock gardens, slopes, borders, and spaces between stones.

No plant is completely fireproof. Remove accumulated dry leaves and spent flower stalks, and give plants appropriate spacing and regular maintenance. Thoughtful plant selection is just one part of creating a more wildfire-aware garden.

Small, sturdy, native, and surprisingly versatile, broadleaf stonecrop earns its place in the spotlight.




🔥 Compost Thursday: Keep It Moist, Keep It SafeCan a compost pile catch fire? While it is possible, it is extremely unco...
08/20/2026

🔥 Compost Thursday: Keep It Moist, Keep It Safe

Can a compost pile catch fire? While it is possible, it is extremely uncommon in the small compost bins and piles used by most home gardeners. The risk is primarily associated with very large piles that become excessively hot and dry.

Fortunately, good composting practices also help keep a pile safe. Maintain a healthy mixture of nitrogen-rich greens and carbon-rich browns, and keep the contents about as damp as a wrung-out sponge. Turn the pile periodically to mix the materials, distribute moisture, and give yourself an opportunity to check its condition.

Never place hot ashes, charcoal, or coals in a compost pile, and avoid allowing large quantities of dry material to accumulate around the bin.

A well-managed compost pile turns garden and kitchen scraps into a valuable soil amendment, not a cause for alarm. Regular attention is all it usually needs.



🔥 Wildfire Preparedness at the Bellevue Demonstration GardenWhat does wildfire preparedness look like in an urban demons...
08/19/2026

🔥 Wildfire Preparedness at the Bellevue Demonstration Garden

What does wildfire preparedness look like in an urban demonstration garden?

At the Bellevue Demonstration Garden, it begins with many of the same routine tasks that keep any garden healthy: watering appropriately, pruning dead or damaged growth, removing dry plant debris, and keeping paths and work areas accessible. Water is available throughout the garden, and hoses are brought out during our regular work sessions to help volunteers keep plants properly irrigated during hot, dry conditions.

This Master Gardener Priority gives us an opportunity to look at the garden with fresh eyes. Where could dry material accumulate? Are plants becoming overcrowded? Are pathways clear? Are hoses accessible and long enough to reach where they may be needed?

Wildfire preparedness is not a one-time project.
It is another reason to regularly observe, maintain, and thoughtfully manage our gardens, especially during our increasingly hot, dry summers.



🔥 Tool Tip Tuesday: N95 RespiratorAn N95 respirator may not look like a traditional garden tool, but it deserves a place...
08/19/2026

🔥 Tool Tip Tuesday: N95 Respirator

An N95 respirator may not look like a traditional garden tool, but it deserves a place in both your garden supplies and your wildfire preparedness kit.

A properly fitted, NIOSH-approved N95 can help filter fine particles from wildfire smoke and ash. It is also useful during dusty garden chores such as spreading dry compost, sweeping sheds, heavy raking, handling dusty soil amendments, or using products whose labels recommend an N95 respirator.

Look for “NIOSH” and “N95” printed on the respirator, choose one with two straps that fit around your head, and make sure it seals snugly around your nose and chin.

Remember: When wildfire smoke makes the air unhealthy, the safest choice is to postpone outdoor work and stay where the air is cleaner. If you must be outside briefly, a properly fitted N95 offers added protection.

One small tool, several useful jobs—and a smart addition to your emergency supplies.

🔥 Monday Master Gardener Priority: Wildfire PreparednessWhen smoke hangs in the summer air, wildfire can suddenly feel m...
08/17/2026

🔥 Monday Master Gardener Priority: Wildfire Preparedness

When smoke hangs in the summer air, wildfire can suddenly feel much closer to home.
Wildfire preparedness isn't only about what happens when a fire starts. It's also about the choices we make before fire season arrives—including choices in our gardens and landscapes.

Creating a more fire-resilient landscape doesn't mean removing everything green around your home. Thoughtful plant selection, placement, pruning, irrigation, and regular maintenance can all help reduce potential fuels while allowing us to create landscapes that are beautiful, functional, and full of life.

A few good places to start:
🌿 Keep plants healthy and appropriately watered. Stressed and dead vegetation can become fuel.
✂️ Remove dead leaves, branches, needles, and other dry plant material, particularly near structures.
🏡 Think about plant placement. Creating space between vegetation and structures—and between groups of plants—can help interrupt pathways that fire may travel.
🌳 Prune thoughtfully and keep trees and shrubs maintained rather than allowing dead material to accumulate.
🍂 Pay attention to what's happening at ground level, including dry grasses, fallen leaves and other combustible debris.

And remember: there really isn't a magic list of completely "fireproof" plants. How a plant is maintained, where it is placed, its moisture content, and what surrounds it can be just as important as the plant itself.

Wildfire preparedness is another example of how gardening connects to the larger landscape around us. Small, informed choices can help create gardens—and communities—that are better prepared and more resilient.

🔥 Wildfire Preparedness is one of the nine WSU Extension Master Gardener Program Priorities, bringing research-based gardening information to our communities and helping Washington gardeners prepare for a changing environment.

🌻 Sunday SmileLate August hums in golden green,While sunshine dances, warm and bright.The garden puts on one more scene,...
08/16/2026

🌻 Sunday Smile

Late August hums in golden green,
While sunshine dances, warm and bright.
The garden puts on one more scene,
With blooms still reaching for the light.

Summer may be rounding the bend,
But flowers aren't counting the days.

They're simply blooming.

Joyously, gloriously blooming anyway. 🌸

Happy Sunday from the Bellevue Demonstration Garden. 💚



Lovely photo by Linda Deardorff WSU Master Gardener

Saturday Smile!Happy weekend from the BDG!Don't forget, we have Master Gardeners in the garden on Saturdays from 9:00 un...
08/15/2026

Saturday Smile!

Happy weekend from the BDG!
Don't forget, we have Master Gardeners in the garden on Saturdays from 9:00 until 1:00. Drop by and say hello!

🍅 SAVE THE DATE!Tomato season isn't over yet!Join us next Saturday at the Bellevue Demonstration Garden for our next FRE...
08/15/2026

🍅 SAVE THE DATE!

Tomato season isn't over yet!

Join us next Saturday at the Bellevue Demonstration Garden for our next FREE garden workshop: Bringing Your Tomatoes to Harvest, presented by Sharon Peach, WSU Master Gardener.

If you're watching green tomatoes develop, wondering how to keep your plants going, or hoping to get the most from the final weeks of our Pacific Northwest tomato season, mark your calendar now!

📅 Saturday, August 22
⏰ 10:00–11:30 a.m.

📍 Bellevue Demonstration Garden
15500 SE 16th Street, Bellevue

🌱 FREE and open to the public.

Save the date,register, tag your tomato-growing friends, and watch our page next week for more details! 🍅

🌿 Friday Plant Pick: Turtlehead (Chelone)Some plants whisper their names. Turtlehead pretty much draws you a picture! 🐢T...
08/14/2026

🌿 Friday Plant Pick: Turtlehead (Chelone)

Some plants whisper their names. Turtlehead pretty much draws you a picture! 🐢
Take a close look at one of the plump, two-lipped flowers of Chelone and you'll quickly see how this late-summer perennial earned its common name.

While plenty of the garden's early stars are beginning to wind down, turtlehead is just getting started. Depending on the species and cultivar, its upright stems carry flowers in shades of pink, rose, or white from late summer into early fall, adding fresh color at a time when it's especially welcome.

Turtlehead appreciates consistently moist, rich soil and will grow in sun to partial shade, making it a particularly useful choice for those damp spots where many familiar garden perennials aren't quite as happy. Once established in the right location, it forms an attractive clump of sturdy stems and deep green foliage.

And those unusual flowers aren't just entertaining for gardeners. Late-season blooms provide another source of nectar for visiting pollinators as the selection of flowering plants begins to change.

If your August garden could use something a little different, take a closer look at Chelone. Any plant that waits patiently until late summer to bloom and then shows up looking like a collection of tiny pink turtles deserves a little attention.

What's blooming in your garden this week?

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08/08/2026

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15500 SE 16th Street
Bellevue, WA
98007

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