Tag: bloom

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.

M. ‘Royal Star’

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.

M. ‘Betty’

M. ‘Leonard Messel’

C. infloresence

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

Leucojum vernum

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.

Cyclamen hederifolium

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.

Cornus mas

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.

Lonicera fragrantissima

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.

Skunk cabbage flower

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.

Hamamelis ‘Jelena’ (closeup)

Sara Perzley of the Parks Commission writes (and sends the beautiful pictures):

“Thought I’d send these photos of the two witch hazels between the Cottage Garden and the drive in front of the Tubbs House…they’re in flower and looking lovely. I wouldn’t have expected blooms until mid to late February, but I guess they got a bit off schedule with the warmer weather earlier on!”

Click on an image to enlarge.

H. vernalis

H. ‘Jelena’

w. ‘Winter Gold’

The official start of winter is only a few weeks away. Willowwood is entering a quieter season, but there are still highlights in the gardens and surrounding landscape to notice and enjoy on your next visit.

The arboretum’s subtle, early winter color palette is greatly enlivened by its many winterberries (Ilex verticillata), some of which greet you from along the Willow Path as you approach the parking lot. In autumn, these deciduous hollies produce masses of showy, bright red fruit on otherwise bare stems. The cultivar ‘Red Sprite’ sings out from the far corner of the Cottage Garden, where its fruit contrasts nicely with the deep green of the southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) leaves above it. Don’t miss ‘Winter Gold’, (photo at right) either, in the Winter Garden between the main parking lot and the alfalfa field. This selection is covered in fiery coral-hued fruit.

M. hupenhensis fruit

Another woody plant sporting lovely fruit this time of year is the tea crabapple (Malus hupehensis). Its small, glossy pome-fruits (photo left) look like miniature sour cherries, and range in color from deep red to wine red. A number of these trees punctuate the Bee Meadow.

If you continue to the far end of the Bee Meadow and cross Blackburn Brook, be sure to stop and have a look at the stewartia collection on the opposite side of the bridge on the left. Stewartia monadelpha and Stewartia malacodendron both have gorgeous mottled bark in shades of copper, grey and pink that really stands out in winter. Perhaps you will even catch a glimpse of a Red-tailed Hawk perched in the branches overhead (photo below at right).

The meadows along the main drive are also excellent places to spot hawks and other wildlife and simply go for a wander. Their winter tapestry of subtle colors and textures looks especially magical in the slanted light of early morning and late afternoon.

If you need a place to warm up after a walk outside, stop in the Conservatory, which is packed with tender plants that are sheltering from the colder weather. The large, bold flowers of the South African blood lily (Haemanthus albiflos) are just opening now (photo below), and the camellia (Camellia japonica ‘Berenice Boddy’) is covered in pink blossoms.

Haemanthus albiflos