Gorgeous Gardens Off the Beaten Path

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Gorgeous Gardens Off the Beaten Path

With their year-round blooms and foliage from native trees and exotic plants, these parks educate and amaze. Bring a picnic or a book to read, frolic among the plants and trees and enjoy the changing landscape from season to season.

Bloedel Reserve

Explore 150 acres of gardens, meadows, forests and walking trails. Children will love the time to immerse themselves in nature, while on a sunset tour or exploring the grounds with family. 37571 NE Dolphin Dr., Bainbridge Island 98110 bloedelreserve.org

Dunn Gardens

Nestled in a north Seattle neighborhood, this private garden offers both self-guided and docent-led tours. The garden paths meander through collections of rhododendrons, dogwoods, azaleas, hostas, and other perennial plants. Children will love the open spaces and beautiful colors. 313533 Northshire Road NW, Seattle 98177 dunngardens.org

Highline Seatac Botanical Garden

Hop, skip and jump across the bridge at the Japanese Garden, then follow the sounds of the stream to an open pond – a great place to read or explore. Play peeka-boo around the Greek columns on the lawn. Highline Seatac Botanical Garden is a great place to learn about plants and to do some plane spotting; manmade “birds” fly over the park as it’s near Sea-Tac Airport. 313735 24th Ave. S, SeaTac 98168 highlinegarden.org

Kruckeberg Botanic Garden

This garden is perfect for nature play. Look for the Woodwave sculpture — it’s a tangle of branches that are interwoven — and get ready to climb! Build gnome and fairy houses in the wooded area of the garden. An awesome destination, Kruckeberg displays a mixture of native and exotic plants and trees. 320312 15th Ave NW, Shoreline, WA 98177 kruckeberg.org

Family exploring the Dunn gardens

CREDIT: JOSHUA HUSTON PHOTO