花园概况：西雅图国会山上的家族山地花园
Streissguth 花园位于美国华盛顿州西雅图市国会山（Capitol Hill）社区西北侧、East Blaine Street 公共楼梯西端的陡峭山坡上，是一片由 Streissguth 家族用近六十年时间逐步营建、1996 年整体捐赠给西雅图公园与娱乐局（Seattle Parks and Recreation）的城市山地花园。花园占地约一英亩，可 365 天对公众免费开放，沿 Blaine 阶梯与 Howe 阶梯两侧分布着蜿蜒小径、两个小池塘和大面积林缘花境，可俯瞰联合湖（Lake Union）、西雅图市中心和奥林匹克山脉（Olympic Mountains）。
家族历史：从1962年建屋到1996年捐赠市府
1962 年建筑师 Daniel Streissguth 在 Blaine 街楼梯北侧购地建房并开始整理周边的花园，1965 年其夫人 Ann 入住相邻的 Broadway East 1806 号住宅并继续山坡园地的开拓，1968 年两人婚后将两处花园合并；1972 年 Streissguth 家族又购入 Blaine 街楼梯南侧的山坡地块，经过近二十四年清理黑莓、欧洲常春藤、问荆、欧洲蕨等入侵植物，并补植大叶枫、杜鹃、月季、斯图尔特树等本地与园艺品种，1996 年家族将土地无偿赠予西雅图市政府，同一时期市府也购入毗邻的 St. Marks Greenbelt 地块，使这片山林成为城市公共绿地。
园区分区：四段公共花园与林缘过渡带
公共园区自北向南划分为四段：北段是 East Blaine 街楼梯两侧的草坪与缓坡花境；中央主体段坡度最陡，密林搭配多年生与灌木花境，沿 Broadway East 边缘还保留着家族果蔬畦；Rust Garden 段土壤最厚、日照最足，正发展为以多年生植物为主的新园区；最南侧的过渡带朝向 St. Marks Greenbelt 林缘扩张，尝试让人工栽培与原生山林自然衔接。园内特色植物区包括以香气为筛选标准的杜鹃坡、The Dell 冬季园、杂交软色系列 Azalea 群落、斯图尔特树（Stewartia）小树林，以及由家族命名的林荫小径与 Raccoon Pool 池塘。
公共化与保育：非营利组织与志愿者项目
2021 年 Streissguth 家族在原 Seattle Parks Foundation 名下捐赠基金的基础上，成立 Streissguth Gardens Conservancy 这一独立非营利组织，承接花园长期维护与公共教育职责。1996 年移交后由 Ben Streissguth 主持的志愿团队和西雅图公园与娱乐局共同管理，2006 年起启动志愿者项目，2008 年由 Ben 主持完成全园灌溉系统建设，2009 年家族与华盛顿大学出版社合作出版《In Love with a Hillside Garden》，全部收益捐赠给华盛州立大学植物园基金会（Arboretum Foundation），2018 年起 Ben 与 Jade 共同接管花园的修缮与历史保护工作。
参观路线与捐赠渠道
Streissguth 花园没有公开街门牌号，访客通常将车辆停于 Broadway East 沿线的 10th Ave E 一带，再沿 East Blaine 街 72 级石阶步行下行即可到达；自 I-5 北向可经 168A 出口驶入 Lakeview Blvd E，南向可由 168A 出口接 Boylston Ave E，520 西向则由 Roanoke St 转 10th Ave E。花园常年免费开放，地面以陡坡碎石与铺装小径为主，建议穿防滑鞋；日常巡园、植物识别与历史保育工作由志愿者团队承担，公众可通过 PayPal、eBay 公益捐赠、Kroger/QFC 社区回馈以及 Amazon、Microsoft 等企业配捐项目向该非营利组织提供支援。
Overview: An Urban Hillside Garden on Capitol Hill
Streissguth Gardens is an urban hillside garden tucked into the northwest flank of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighbourhood, at the foot of the East Blaine Street stairway. Built incrementally by the Streissguth family over nearly six decades and donated to Seattle Parks and Recreation in 1996, the roughly one-acre site stretches across the Blaine and Howe stairways and is open to the public free of charge every day of the year. Winding trails, two clay- and EPDM-lined ponds, and layered woodland and perennial beds frame sweeping views of Lake Union, downtown Seattle, and the Olympic Mountains.
Family History: From Daniel Streissguth’s 1962 Home to the 1996 City Donation
Architect Daniel Streissguth completed his house north of the Blaine Street stair in 1962 and began landscaping the surrounding beds the same year; his wife Ann moved into the adjacent 1806 Broadway East home in 1965 and extended the garden onto the steep hillside, with the two gardens formally merged after their 1968 marriage. In 1972 the family purchased the lots south of the stairway, and over the next twenty-four years they removed invasive blackberry, English ivy, horsetail, bracken and nettles, planted native big-leaf maples and ornamental rhododendrons, azaleas, stewartias and hybrid roses, and in 1996 conveyed the entire property to the City of Seattle, which simultaneously acquired the adjoining St. Marks Greenbelt parcels.
Garden Sections: Four Public Zones and the Greenbelt Transition
The public garden is now organised into four north-to-south sections: the lawn and sloping perennial border flanking the East Blaine Street stair; the central, heavily wooded hillside laced with named trails such as the Woodland Path, High Path, Rock Wall Path and Raccoon Pool Path; the Rust Garden, named for the rusting debris unearthed during its creation, whose deep soil and full sun are being developed as a perennial-focused garden; and the southern transition zone, where cultivated beds are slowly being blended into the wilder St. Marks Greenbelt. Specialist collections include a scented rhododendron bank, the Dell winter garden, a hybrid azalea group, a stewartia grove, and the family-named Raccoon Pool catchment.
Public Stewardship: The Streissguth Gardens Conservancy
After the 1996 transfer, Ben Streissguth took on stewardship of the public garden in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation: a volunteer programme was launched in 2006, a multi-year irrigation system was installed by Ben beginning in 2008, and in 2009 the family worked with the University of Washington Press to publish In Love with a Hillside Garden, donating all royalties to the Arboretum Foundation. In 2018 Jade joined the garden team, and in 2021 the family established the Streissguth Gardens Conservancy, an independent non-profit that now holds the endowment originally placed with the Seattle Parks Foundation and supports long-term care, renovation and historic preservation of the gardens.
Visiting Routes and Ways to Support the Garden
There is no street address for the garden, so visitors typically park on 10th Avenue East near East Blaine Street and walk down the 72-step Blaine stair; from I-5 northbound Exit 168A (Lakeview Blvd) follow Lakeview, Harvard, East Boston and 10th Avenue East, while southbound drivers use the same exit onto Boylston Avenue East, and westbound SR-520 traffic exits to Roanoke Street before turning onto 10th Avenue East. The garden is unfenced and the terrain is steep, so sturdy footwear is recommended. Volunteers run plant identification, trail care and seasonal propagation, and the Conservancy accepts support through PayPal, eBay for Charity, Kroger/QFC community rewards, and employer matching programmes at Amazon, Microsoft and other partner companies.
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