After all this rain, which we needed, the weathermen are predicting some sun on Saturday and more on Sunday afternoon. With lots warmer temps headed our way mid to end next week. The rain has helped nourish the Spring flowers in the gardens (the tulips and daffodils are finished) and the lilacs and other flowering trees are in bloom. The wisteria on the arbors is almost at peak. Summer plantings are peaking out in the Cottage Garden. May is one of the most beautiful months at Willowwood, so come visit!
Dogwoods and early Lilacs in Bloom 4.30.16
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!
Spring Bloomin’ 4.15.16
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
Bloom report ‘Magnolias’ 3.31.16
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!
Click on an image to enlarge.
Reported by Sara Perzley
Plant Records Specialist & Propagator
Daffodils Arrive! March 17, 2016
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!
Click on individual images to enlarge.