Author: Webmaster

At the Arboretum – 4/2/24

All sorts of plants and flowers are making an appearance in the gardens at the Arboretum.  The pretty red stems and leaves of a Peony have broken ground, a Spirea thunbergii cv. Ogon is showing off its lovely, delicate white flowers and a beautiful double Daffodil is a putting on quite a show. Enjoy!

At the Arboretum – 3/25/24

A nice day at the Arboretum, a bit chilly, but refreshing. A lovely Corylopsis gotoana tree (Winterhazel) is in full bloom on the left as you crest the hill from Hanover Avenue. It’s covered in small, delicate yellow flowers – don’t miss it!

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Landscape Plugs at the Plant Sale

This year at the Annual Plant Sale Under the Tent the Friends will be selling Landscape Plugs. 

Here are some of the benefits of using them instead of a larger container plants:

  • Plants reach flowering size in their first season and have a high transplant success rate.
  • Reduced labor costs for installation
  • Compact size is easy to transport with reduced handling costs
  • Reduced waste on the job site
  • Root channels, tapered cells and drainage holes direct roots to one point for air pruning, resulting in dramatically reduced root circling.
  • Reduced growing medium creates optimal root density for quicker establishment in native soil
  • Easy to plant under existing trees with minimal root disturbance.
  • Easier to fill in gaps in existing plantings.
  • Economical option for large green infrastructure and stormwater management projects.

Below are the selections you’ll be able to choose from:

Aster cordifolius 

Aster novi-belgii 

Carex pensylvanica 

Echinacea purpurea 

Eupatorium dub. Little Joe 

Heuchera villosa Bronze Wave 

Iris versicolor Purple Flame 

Monarda didyma Jacob Cline 

Pycnanthemum muticum 

Solidago Solar Cascade 

Viola Silver Gem 

Detailed descriptions and photos may be found here.

Landscape Plugs at the Plant Sale

At the Arboretum 3-20-24

Spring has officially arrived and with it the flowering trees we love so much. Several Prunus cv. Okame trees (Flowering Cherry) are in full bloom, one to the right as you come up the driveway from Hanover Avenue and another in the upper parking lot. The beautiful white flowers on the Loebner Magnolia are beginning to open on the tree to the left as you come up the driveway. Also in the upper parking lot a large Salix chaenomeloides (Giant Pussy Willow) is putting on quite a show, full of fuzzy, young catkins. There are also many other plants blooming, i.e., Daffodils, early Irises, Crocuses, etc.

Make plans to visit soon. Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Photos from Katharine Boyle 3-18-24

Katharine Boyle sent these beautiful pictures from her visit to the Arboretum on Sunday, saying, ” I went to the arboretum yesterday and was especially enamored by the hyacinths in sight and smell. It’s very inspiring seeing new flowers budding all around!”

Thanks Katharine for the great images of Spring.

At the Arboretum 3/12/24

Spring is decidedly in the air! Blue skies, temperatures in the 60s and many plants beginning to break ground, budding and blooming. The Prunus mume cv. Kobai (Japanese Apricot) is in full bloom against the Carriage House wall, its flowers’ sweet scent wafting through the air, calling to humans and bees alike. The delicate little yellow/green flowers of the Corylopsis gotoana ‘March Jewel’ (Winterhazel) are beginning to open on the plant’s bare branches.near the arbor and a bunch of Hyacinth buds are getting ready to burst into bloom by Matilda’s Cottage.

Don’t miss all this early spring activity at the Arboretum! Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

At the Arboretum – 3/5/24

Chilly, rainy and damp, but spring will not be deterred!!! The first daffodil flower is about to open, the Edgeworthia buds are finally beginning to show their pretty little flowers and a nice clump of purple Crocus buds are about to burst open.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

At the Arboretum 2/27/24

Spring is coming, you can feel it in the air and hear it in the birds’ songs!!! The tiniest and most delicate little Irises are blooming in the gravel/crevice garden, lovely yellow and white and pretty lavender and white flowers, standing no more that 6-7 inches tall. A busy little bee was climbing all over the Eranthis hyemalis (Winter Aconite) flowers looking for an early snack. And the Adonis amurensis ( Pheasant’s Eye) is in bloom next to Matilda’s Cottage. It is wonderful to walk around the grounds and discover all these little gems.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

At the Arboretum 2-20-24

Another snowfall over the weekend is keeping the grounds covered under a white blanket. Crisp, clear and cold today, but the sky was a magnificent shade of blue. The fuzzy buds of a Magnolia x ‘Butterflies’ (Hybrid Magnolia) were lovely against the azure sky. I was lucky enough to capture a male Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) flitting about in the shrubs along the Four Seasons Garden path. A patch of lemon yellow Eranthis hyemalis (Winter Aconite) is blooming in the snow under the Cornus alba cv. Siberica (Red Twig Dogwood) providing a nice contrast between the yellow flowers and the red twigs on the Dogwood.

The days are getting longer, Daylight Saving Time is due to arrive on Sunday, March 10th and Spring is less than a month away. To quote Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina “Spring is the time of plans and projects”, for me that means thinking about my garden, creating new beds and introducing new plants.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

At the Arboretum 2/13/24

A freshly fallen blanket of snow covered the grounds at the Arboretum late this afternoon. As the sun was setting, the Frelinghuysen Mansion looked serene and peaceful surrounded by snow with a regal Gymnocladus dioica (Kentucky Coffee Tree) standing sentinel in the foreground. The Bacchus herm at the end of the Holly walk by Matilda’s Cottage sported a snowy cap and cold shoulder and the delicate, strappy flowers of the Hamamelis vernalis ‘Red Imp’ (Red Imp Witch Hazel) seemed immune to the snow covering the shrub.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.