The weather may have turned a bit cooler lately, but that hasn’t deterred the plants here at Willowwood, where spring is really at its peak. Redbuds and dogwoods are blooming; look for them near the entrance gate and along the woodland edge, visible across the meadows as you drive in. Crabapples have joined the chorus, and some of the later cherries and magnolias are still holding on to their flowers. Another stellar woody plant at its best now is Burkwood Viburnum, Viburnum x burkwoodii, which can be found growing near the Tubbs House. This viburnum has lovely clusters of small white flowers with a delicious, spicy fragrance.
LILACS are just beginning to bloom: take a stroll through the Lilac Collection to spot some early bloomers like Syringa vulgaris ‘Nadezhda’, Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Esther Staley’ and Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Lamartine’. Plenty of others are in bud and will be opening over the next few weeks, just in time for the Willowwood Foundation’s annual Lilac Party, Sunday May 15.
And several of the azaleas donated by Mrs. Lois Poinier are now blooming – go up the drive past the Tubbs House and past the Stone House up the walkway and they are off the path to the right.
Tulips continue to bloom in the beds in the Cottage Garden, Roserie, Pan’s Garden and elsewhere. The Rockery and Chive Walk are filled with all sorts of botanical treasures this time of year. Newly in bloom there are wood poppies, Stylophorum diphyllum, bleeding hearts, Dicentra sp., Trillium grandiflorum, Lathyrus vernus, and pasqueflower, Pulsatilla sp. Many of these herbaceous spring bloomers are spectacular, but don’t hold on to their flowers for long, so be sure to plan a trip to see them soon!
The weather forecast for this weekend looks wonderful, so plan a stroll or walk through the Willowwood Arboretum
Mornings at Willowwood have been filled with the lively sounds of bird chatter, and night time temperatures here seem to be finally inching higher. Daffodils, magnolias, forsythias and cherries continue to put on a cheerful show throughout the arboretum, and the addition of tulip flowers opening has really made it look like spring.
On your next visit, spend some time in the Cottage Garden, where tulips can be spotted alongside Virginia bluebells, also now in bloom. Keep an eye out for pulmonaria, with its white-spotted leaves and delicate flowers in shades of pale purple and blue. Also well worth noticing is Ipheion uniflorum, a dainty bulb from South America with grass-like foliage and star shaped flowers.
Newly blooming woody plants include Chaenomeles japonica, Japanese quince, and several types of spiraea. Look for the coral flowers of Japanese quince in the bed between the Stone Barn and the Shingle Barn. A lovely white-flowered spiraea, Spiraea thunbergii ‘Mount Fuji’, can be found not far away, at the corner of the Stone Barn near the pergola.
Reported by Sara Perzley, MCPC Plant Records Specialist & Propagator
By Dr. Lesley Parness, Retired MCPC Superintendent for Horticulture Education
The botanizing of brothers Henry and Robert Tubbs was a year round passion. So, in 1930 they decided to add a greenhouse to their home. In doing so, they joined a long line of gardeners seeking to extend their horticultural pleasure throughout the year.
The word conservatory is derived from the Italian “conservato” (stored or preserved) and Latin “ory” – a place for – and was originally used to describe a non–glazed structure used for storing food. Later the word was used to describe glazed structures for conserving, or protecting, plants from cold weather.
The earliest known conservatories date from the 17th century. At that time they were stone structures used by the scientific community, nobility and the landed gentry to protect plants, especially those that they had collected on their European tours and wished to grow back in the colder climate of England. The first conservatory in Britain was constructed in the Oxford Botanic Garden, another was built soon after in the Chelsea Physic Garden.
With their unerring ability to discern the “best,” the Tubbs chose a Lord & Burnham conservatory. The Lord and Burnham Company was started in 1849 in Buffalo, N.Y. Their first commission to create a 12,000 square foot conservatory similar to that in Kew gardens, England led to many others and the firm went on to become the premier source for custom conservatories at botanic gardens and large American estates.
Although at 12’x25’ in size, the Tubbs conservatory is relatively small by comparison to other Lord & Burnham greenhouses, it held an impressive variety of plants, both tender and tropical. Its interior finishes as well reflect the artistic nature of the Tubbs brothers. Their friendship with Henry Chapman Mercer, owner of the Moravian Tileworks in Doylestown, PA came into play, as the small fountain and its tiling were provided by Chapman. The tiles have now acquired a lovely aged patina and the soothing sound of water in the fountain can still be heard. These decorative elements re-enforce an American Arts and Crafts feel at Willowwood that can also been seen in Henry’s stenciled fabric wall hangings on display in the entry hall.
How pleasant it must have been to open the glass doors on the side of the parlor and enter this warm and fragrant space. In keeping true to the Tubb’s aesthetic, many of the same kinds of plants grown by them almost 100 years ago, still thrive in the Conservatory. A potted lemon, blooms and bears fruit, as they have done since Roman times when preservation of citrus was done in limonaia, stone pergola with wooden walls. A cut leaf philodendron and numerous succulents from around the tastefully clutter its benches, harkening the Golden Age of Plant Exploration, which both Henry and Robert studied.
The greenhouse at Willowwood Arboretum in one of just a handful of extant Lord & Burnham conservatories. The others include:
Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens
Enid Haupt Conservatory at New York Botanical Garden
Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati
Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh
Steinhardt Conservatory at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.
Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle, Washington
Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park in Canadaigua, NY
The Conservatory at Willowwood Arboretum may hold the title of the smallest Lord & Burham Conservatory at a public garden in America!
Lots of daffodils still in bloom but Magnolias and Cherry trees have started blooming this week at Willowwood, and are putting on an elegant display in shades of pink, white and cream.
As you drive through the entrance gates, look for Magnolia x loebneri ‘Willowwood’ immediately on the right, with its densely petaled white flowers.
At the far end of the Cottage Garden, Magnolia kobus var. stellata ‘Royal Star’ is looking appropriately regal, and has a particularly well balanced form.
Other good places to spot magnolias in bloom are along the Woodwalk and in the Orchard. Some of the best specimens in the Orchard can be seen by walking through the gate leading out of the Roserie: look for Magnolia ‘Betty’ immediately in front of you. This is just starting to flower, and the lower surface of its petals, now visible, are an intense magenta, and almost black at the base. Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’, with its lovely pyramidal form and lighter pink flowers, is a short walk further ahead.
Some of the other woody plants flowering now include several species of Corylopsis, Winter Hazel, which have lovey, pendent inflorescences in shades of creamy yellow. Look for these along the sides of the drive past the Tubbs house, towards the Bee Meadow and paths to the Brocade Hillside.
We hope you’ll come out to enjoy the plants and mild weather, and keep returning often over the next several months to watch spring unfold!
The very first daffodil blooms have been spotted this week at Willowwood! They are just starting to make a cheerful and very welcome show in the Alfalfa Field along the drive and in the Winter Garden. Keep watching over the next weeks as more and more varieties appear.
Siberian squill, Scilla siberica, has carpeted large areas of the cottage garden in an energetic blue. It has also popped up in the Rockery and the beds on the slope between the Roserie and Pan’s Garden.
You can also find spring snowflake (Leucojum vernum), ivy-leaved cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium), and lungwort, (Pulmonaria sp.) blooming in the Rockery now. Plenty of hellebores are flowering in garden beds all over Willowwood.
There are some gorgeous woody plants in bloom this week as well. Look for the cornelian cherry, Cornus mas, and its relative, Cornus macrophylla, just as you go through the entrance gate on the left. Both are covered in delicate yellow flowers, as is the large cornelian cherry next to the Rockery.
As you walk across the lawn between the stone barn and the greenhouse, stop to take in the strong and deliciously sweet scent of winter honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima, with its creamy white flowers and pale pink buds.
For those brave enough, contrast this pleasing fragrance with a whiff of the stinky flowers of skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, found alongside the path in the Woodwalk. The mottled maroon and green hooded flowers of these fascinating wetland plants have a sci-fi look about them, and even have the rare ability to generate their own heat. The extra warmth given off by the flowers helps spread their foul scent and attract early pollinators like flies. This year, given the recent warm temperatures, perhaps these plants have not needed to spend as much energy as usual on heating up!
