A tour of the Lake Wilderness Arboretum will be held at 11 a.m. on May 12, 19 and 26.

The tour on Saturday, May 12 coincides with Lake Wilderness Arboretum’s Spring Plant Sale, their biggest fundraiser of the year, which begins t 10 a.m. on Friday, May 11.

On Saturday, May 19, take advantage of the regularly scheduled docent tour of the Arboretum at 10 a.m. and then join the special tour of the Smith-Mossman Western Azalea Garden at 11 a.m.

A third tour of the Smith-Mossman Garden is scheduled for Saturday, May 26.

Please meet for the tours at the gazebo near the meadow’s edge.

Donations will be gratefully accepted.

Mid-May to mid-June marks the peak bloom time for the world’s largest public collection of western azaleas, Rhododendron occidentale, at Lake Wilderness Arboretum’s Smith-Mossman Western Azalea Garden.

The garden’s spectacular floral show is open to the public everyday, all day, for free.

The Smith-Mossman Western Azalea Garden is remarkable for preserving the work of two Washington plant collectors. In the 1950’s and early ’60’s, Britt Smith and Frank Mossman pursued their interest in rhododendrons every weekend trying to find new plants for their ever-expanding collection. They developed a passion for the very fragrant, abundantly flowered Western azalea they found primarily in the coastal wilds of northern California and southern Oregon.

They collected cuttings of hundreds of different Rhododendron occidentale over the years, carefully documenting and propagating them. The two men, both active in the American Rhododendron Society and Rhododendron Species Foundation (RSF) planted these azalea cuttings in their own gardens.

In 1997, when Britt Smith and his wife decided to sell their Kent acreage, the fate of his azalea collection was in question. The property was to be subdivided and developed, guaranteeing the loss of his azaleas. A last minute deal allowed a small, dedicated crew of volunteers from Lake Wilderness Arboretum to move over one hundred of his fully mature plants.

Since the dedication of the Smith-Mossman Western Azalea Garden in 2000, more Western azaleas from Dr. Mossman’s garden in Vancouver, Washington, have been added, establishing the garden as the largest public collection of R. occidentale selections in the world. Preservation of these plants became even more important with the passing of Britt Smith in December 2007, and of Frank Mossman in November 2009.

Lake Wilderness Arboretum is a 42 acre arboretum located in the heart of Maple Valley featuring meandering paths through cultivated gardens, botanical collections and native forest. The Arboretum is committed to the preservation, development and education of gardens that showcase the Northwest ecosystems for present and future generations.

For more information about the Arboretum, check out the website at www.lakewildernessarboretum.org.