December 10, 2009
Flowers for John: UW alumnus to be remembered with 10,000 daffodils
Motorists driving along Montlake Boulevard will see a field of yellow in the spring, thanks to a donation of 10,000 daffodils by Charlotte Behnke in memory of her husband John, who died Oct. 9.
John Behnke was a 1950 graduate of the UW who went on to become CEO and chairman of the board at Fisher Broadcasting. He was also a passionate advocate for the UW who was honored with the UW Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2005.
Gardeners have planted 6,000 of the bulbs between the Burke Gilman Trail and Montlake. The nursery ran out of bulbs, said UW Landscape Architect Kristine Kenney, so the other 4,000 will be purchased and planted next fall.
Charlotte Behnke said her husband took up painting late in life, and one of his paintings of daffodils appears on notecards that are on sale at the Miller Library in the Center for Urban Horticulture.
“He liked bright colors, good attitudes and fun,” Behnke said, “and he loved the University so much. This seemed like the right way to honor him.”
“The bulbs we purchased are Dutch Master, which will naturalize the slope and continue to provide an even more splendid display each year,” Kenney said. “This is a great project that will help improve the visual quality of our landscape, and we are grateful to Charlotte for her generous donation.”
Behnke donated an additional 2,000 bulbs to be planted on Azalea Way in the Washington Park Arboretum.
