Have a look at the Northwest Gardeners' Resource Directory.

In Tacoma there's Pt Defiance Park, a must - see. Very large municipal park, with a small zoo and aquarium (with beluga whales!), a large rose garden, a ferry terminal (I like to watch the ferries come and go) and lots of stuff to see and walk around in.

In Olympia there's Priest Point Park, nice, but a wooded waterside park more than a garden. The Capitol Campus is very nice but it's geared towards the late winter/early spring legislative season so not much to see in summer. There are lots of memorials if you're into that kind of thing - WW1, WWII, Korean War and the Vietnam War. The new Law Enforcement Memorial has a great view of the area including the Black Hills, Olympic Mtns and Puget Sound. The neighborhood around the Capitol Campus has some very nice gardens but none open to the public. I do like to walk around and look at people's front yards though. But I live here so it's not a journey for me. There's also a small but nice Japanese garden next to City Hall on Plum St. Percival Landing, on the waterfront, is nice with small plantings in boxes and you should walk it if you're in town. Olympia isn't much of a gardener's destination.

A bit farther north from Tacoma is the Rhododendron Species Foundation Garden in Federal Way. None of the rhodies will be in bloom of course but they have all the stuff that grows with rhodies in their native habitat as well, and just plain a very nice garden, and the Pacific Rim Bonsai Display as well.

>The Capitol Campus is very nice but it's geared towards the late winter/early spring legislative season so not much to see in summer

Here is a link that might be useful: Article - Trees of the Washington State Capitol Campus by Arthur Lee Jacobson

Thank you for your input. We will definitely go to Pt.Defiance Park and also check out the Capital if time allows.

Apart from the remaining native vegetation the most interesting stuff at Point Defiance is the big planted trees (see Van Pelt, Champion Trees of Washington State) and the exotic plantings inside the zoo. The native garden near the zoo is also noteworthy.

I have some stops for you as you head south from Olympia.

1. Visit Faerie Gardens -- a nursery with a large demonstration garden -- off I-5 in Tumwater (just south of Olympia).

2. Get off I-5 at Longview and cross over the Columbia to go to Rainier, Oregon. Take Highway 30 back to Portland.

3. In Scappoose, Oregon, visit Joy Creek Nursery. They're up on a hillside and have a huge demonstration garden.

4. On the way back to Portland, go to Sauvie Island and check out Cistus Nursery, one of the best nurseries in the Pacific Northwest.

I have photos of all three of these places in my blog -- link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: See photos of these places at the top right of this page

I've been to Pt. Defiance. I have wanted to go back for years. It is lovely, the zoo and gardens.

Thank you one and all, this was the input I was hoping for! Looks like we will make more than one trip north, but that's why we left the desert Southwest...needed to see some green. Helictro (may I call you that for short?),your blog will be a great resource!