Hint of Spring at Bellevue's Botanical Garden

A group of ferns and a tree stub on the other side of the Suspension Bridge

Yesterday Scott and I visited Bellevue’s Botanical Garden for the first time. It’s a slightly wild and yet very urban park, with a pretty small Japanese Garden. The Garden was built in the 80's after Cal and Harriet Shorts donated a 7.5 acres of “arboretum” land to the City of Bellevue.

It was a great day to visit the Garden. The plants were full of buds and the air smelled and felt like Spring, even if Spring was not quite there yet. 

The Suspension Bridge at the “Ravine Experience”

We walked around for a while, then we crossed the wobbly suspension bridge that marks the "Ravine experience." I placed my stool in front of the bridge and sketched it as the sun was getting lower at the horizon. It was a beautiful, "suspended" moment. I thought how Nature is still so beautiful and inspiring.

I had with me a sketchbook that I made with Fabriano Artistico Hot Press watercolor paper and it made me think how much easier is to paint on real watercolor paper instead of the sketchbooks I normally use. 

Night Blooming, a sculpture by Taiji Miyasaka and David Drake on the Lost Meadow Trail.

It was a great afternoon. I want to come back later in the season, when all those buds will open up into beautiful flowers and the air will be even warmer and more fragrant.