Best of the West - fall visit to Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island - Brief Article

Sunset, Oct, 1999 by Jim McCausland

Where autumn lives

* From the moment the first vine maple flushes red in August until the last yellow birch leaf drops in November, autumn passes like a slow parade in the Pacific Northwest. It does have a peak, however, usually in October. To see it at its best, head for a garden whose flame-colored leaves blaze against a background of dark evergreens. That's classic Northwest style, and you'll find it at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle.

Driving up to the reserve's gatehouse, you know you're in for something special. Golden-leafed English elms bracket the gate, while a butter yellow tulip tree and a few birches beckon from inside. You park beside a vast red-orange sweep of smooth sumacs, native to eastern Washington and Oregon.

Stop at the gatehouse for maps and information, then stroll downhill toward the Japanese garden, taking in the bigleaf maples and aspens that dot a parklike meadow to your left. You're here for fall color, but you'll find it hard to keep your eyes off the brilliant greens of the moss garden on your right.

A waist-high, orange-red Japanese maple, doing a perfect imitation of the Great Pumpkin, marks the entrance to the Japanese garden. On one side of the entry gate is a wine red burning bush; red and golden fullmoon maples anchor the other side.

Farther on, the reserve's small lake picks up reflections from golden English elms, a yellow-red Persian parrotia, American fothergillas, more Japanese maples, and a European white birch or two. Only swans and a few ducks riffle the water's mirror surface.

If it's raining when you go - and autumn squalls aren't uncommon here - duck into the reserve's French country estate house, just northeast of the lake, and watch the rain stream down the library windows. Period furnishings and historic photos make this visitor center an intriguing stop. When you're done, wander down the hill through the birches, then return up the wooded ravine.

Formerly the property of Prentice and Virginia Bloedel, this 150-acre estate is about 60 percent natural, 40 percent landscaped. The garden, currently under the direction of Marshall Tyler Rausch, reflects the inspiration of such legendary landscape architects as Tommy Church and Fujitaro Kubota. The property is now administered by the nonprofit Arbor Fund.

10-4 Wed-Sun, by appointment only; last admission at 2:30. $6, $4 ages 5-12 and 65 and over. (206) 842-7631 for reservations.