Bees happily float from flower to flower on a sunny Tuesday morning in late May. Steps from the Legislative Building in Olympia, a passerby pauses to admire the colorful tapestry of the Sunken Garden from a bench.

The Capitol Campus is much quieter now that Washington’s 2025 legislative session has wrapped, but the gardens of the surrounding grounds are still buzzing with springtime activity.

Kailee Moulton, grounds operations specialist for the Department of Enterprise Services, has seen lawmakers take time to stroll through the cottage-style Sunken Garden. And visitors from as far as Arizona and Hawaii have stopped by to marvel at its offerings.

“There’s a lot of people from all over the country (who) come in here, and it always surprises me how in awe they are,” Moulton said, smiling

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