The Highline Sea-Tac Botanical Garden Part One: Elda Behm's Paradise Garden

At a recent plant sale, I picked up a card advertising another sale at the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden.  I'd never been to the garden before but had seen beautiful posts on my friend, Linda's blog. The sale was just the nudge I needed to visit.  More on the sale and the other parts of the garden but today, we'll look at Elda Behm's Paradise Garden.

 "Elda Behm’s Paradise Garden is a 1-acre symbolic re-creation of Elda’s Behm’s original Paradise Garden. One of the garden’s crown jewels, the Paradise Garden is located at the entrance of Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden. Elda’s original garden was condemned in 1997 to make way for the Port of Seattle’s third runway at Sea-Tac Airport. Spearheaded by local City Council member and avid gardener Stephen Lamphear, a foundation was formed to save the garden. In the winter of 2000-2001 more than 200 volunteers, the Port of Seattle, and the City of SeaTac teamed up to relocate the thousands of plants Elda had grown from seeds and cuttings to the new Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden."







"The focal point of the Paradise Garden is a recirculating water feature designed by Russell Water Gardens. The pond and stream include four waterfalls which empty into a 100-foot stream, which in turn empties into a 5,500-gallon pond. The water feature is centered around a huge cedar stump salvaged from Elda’s previous pond garden and a massive glacial erratic during pond excavation. An erratic differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests."





"In 2002, with the assistance of a group of Highline High School seniors, a 10,000-square-foot Shade Garden was added. The Shade Garden was Elda’s final contribtion to the Paradise Garden and is maintained by her good friend, Jolly Eitelberg."



 All quoted text was borrowed from the Highline Sea-Tac Botanical Garden website.  To learn more about the history of this garden go here.