Category: PhotoGallery

A recent visit to the Arboretum on a cold, windy day was short, but enjoyable. A striking dark leaved Euphorbia was a surprise as was the pastel-hued ornamental cabbage, both nestled among thin leaves of grass. The arbor was decorated with a series of grapevine globes and a whimsical pair of grapevine “snowmen” greeted me on the way into the Haggerty Education Center.

Even on a chilly, early winter day, there was beauty to be found. Plan a visit soon!

Saturday’s Tree Symposium was a big success, judging by the enthusiastic comments from 70 participants.  Four excellent speakers engaged the audience with the latest information on the impact of trees in our environment, as well as the challenges facing their survival.  Bruce Crawford, MCPC Garden Manager, gave the final talk on special trees at the Arboretum and led a walking tour to point them out.  At the end, he demonstrated best practices for tree planting at the edge of the great lawn in front of the mansion.  We are grateful to Bartlett Tree Experts for sponsoring the event and donating the tree that was planted.  Read more in the upcoming issue of Arboretum Leaves. Judy Snow

Thank you to Marge Hulstrunk and Russell Gatzke for the lovely table arrangements, see photo.

Thanks to Kathy Kirk for the photos of our speakers and to Judy Snow for the photos of Bruce Crawford on the tour and tree planting.

Here are some photos of trees in the Arboretum’s collection that will be talked about during the Symposium.

Heptacodium miconioides, or Seven-Sons-Tree, a member of the honeysuckle family and native to China, has creamy white scented flowers, each with a showy red calyx and a beautiful exfoliating trunk. The specimen at the Arboretum is a NJ State Champion Tree.

Oxydendrum arboreum, or Sourwood, a member of the Heath family and native to the East Coast of the United States, exhibits canoe shaped leaves, pendulous flower racemes and striking red fall color.

Ginkgo biloba, known as Maidenhair Tree, is a large shade tree native to eastern China with fan-shaped leaves that turn a lovely, lemony yellow color in fall. There are Ginkgo fossils dating back over 270 million years!

Thanks to Lisa Bencivengo for all photos, except Margery’s closeup of Ginkgo leaves.

Member Deborah Holz recently visited the Arboretum and shared some of her photographs with us. The calendar may say late October, but Deborah found a lovely pale pink Iris in full bloom, as well as Roses in full bloom in the garden behind the Mansion – don’t they look beautiful with the fall foliage as a backdrop? The Japanese Maples are donning their colorful fall coats and a planter with ornamental cabbage, grasses, chrysanthemums, etc. is a bright spot on the sidewalk going towards the Haggerty Education Center.

Thank you Deborah for these lovely photos.

Frequent contributor Elizabeth Brannin sent these beautiful pictures recently, together with this note:

“I was at the arboretum on Friday. It was magnificent, the flowers were just breathtaking. Autumn was in the air and the colors were just starting to show. The scarecrows are so festive. “

Thanks, Elizabeth for the nice glimpse of Fall at the Arboretum.

The annual scarecrow exhibit is currently on display in the gardens at the Arboretum. Plan to take a stroll and check them out: from Ben Franklin, to Squirrel Morgan (a history of this colorful character is posted next to his scarecrow), to a Raven and a cat who can’t read the “no pets” sign, you’ll be sure to have an enjoyable visit. Thanks to Lisa Bencivengo for the photos.

For a different kind of stroll, check out the roses still in bloom in the rose garden. No specific names, but the flowers are exquisite. Heather Emelander shared these lovely photos. Thank you!

Judy Snow had the opportunity to visit the Arboretum recently and was kind enough to share some of her photographs with us. Could the gardens be getting ready for Halloween with their dark leafed plants?

Shiny Colocasia leaves in the pool next to the walk into the Haggerty Education Center; also on the entrance walk, a purple leaf Basil accompanied by Fishnet Stockings Coleus, such a striking combination! In one of the planters by the entrance gardens, a lovely grouping of Alternanthera and Angelonia, with its bright pink flowers for contrast and in the round garden by the parking lot, Alternanthera, Coleus and Lantana create a pretty picture.

The gardens are still lovely, make plans to visit soon.

Time to say goodbye to the long days of summer and make the adjustment to the shorter days of fall. Clear sunny days and crisp clear nights lead to gorgeous leaf colors; we decorate with pumpkins in various hues and fragrant chrysanthemums in a variety of bright shades, as seen in the Longwood Gardens arrangements below. We begin to put our gardens to bed for the winter and start looking ahead to Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The winter months are spent making plans for next year’s garden, pouring through seed catalogs and dreaming of the first green shoots to break ground, crocuses, daffodils, etc. But before that, we’ll have snowdrops, hellebores and witch hazel to look forward to. The garden may be resting, but we are making plans!

Our bus trip to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA was last Wednesday. An enthusiastic group of travelers boarded the bus at the Arboretum and by 10:00 AM we were on our way, looking forward to a day visiting the lovely grounds at Longwood Gardens. We had some rain, but didn’t let that “dampen” our spirits; the gardens were at their peak, the fountain shows were lively, the new West Conservatory (an innovative, exuberant masterpiece celebrating the world’s Mediterranean landscapes), the Roberto Burle Marx Cascade Garden, the Bonsai Courtyard and the Idea Garden didn’t disappoint. After some last minute shopping, we boarded the bus, a tired but happy bunch, looking forward to the relaxing trip back to New Jersey.

Thanks to Judy Snow for the group photograph, the photo of the Italian Water Garden and a photo of a giant sunflower in the Idea Garden, with a couple of travelers for scale! My photos show part of the New West Conservatory, an elaborate grouping of potted plants, mostly annuals, and a photo of a yellow and purple flower border, including salvia, coleus and marigold.

== Margery Ennist

Among the many beautiful trees on the grounds of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum, there is a very nice example of Taxodium ascendens ‘Nutans’ (Pond Cypress) at the end of a planting strip in one of the parking bays. This tree is native to the coastal plain from Virginia to Florida to Louisiana. A deciduous conifer growing to between 30-70 feet, its foliage turns orange brown in fall and its bark is gray/brown to red/brown.

The seed pods on Magnolia grandiflora cv. Victoria (Southern Magnolia) are an architectural marvel resembling pine cones but are actually an aggregate of many smaller follicles, or seed casings. In this photo the follicles have not begun to open exposing the bright red fruits that provide high fat, high energy food for many birds and mammals.

Last, but not least, a bright spot in the garden provided by a large red Coleus (sadly I don’t know this one’s name); note the much smaller Fishnet Stockings Coleus in the upper left hand corner of this photo. Members of the mint family, Coleus plants come in many colors, from deep reds to pinks to chartreuse and forms, from mounded, trailing to upright. We know them as shade lovers, but newer varieties can tolerate full sun.

Lisa Bencivengo shared the following photographs she took at the Arboretum recently. A close-up of the luscious, lemony yellow flowers of Kirengeshoma palmata (yellow wax bells). Read the attached article by Bruce Crawford to learn more about this lovely plant.

Another pretty yellow flower in the Rose Garden behind the Mansion is the richly lemon scented, soft yellow David Austin Rosa ‘The Poet’s Wife’. And, for something different, here’s a photograph of the striking, open seed pod of a Paeonia obovata (woodland peony).

September is a beautiful month to enjoy the gardens at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum; make plans to visit soon!

Thank you Lisa for these lovely photos.

I took a walk around The Frelinghuysen Arboretum last week, and, as usual, found much to see and enjoy. The Cottage Garden next to Matilda’s was gorgeous, full of blossoms, bees and butterflies; my eye was caught by a beautiful Dahlia flower framed by the airy, delicate purple flowers of Verbena bonariensis. On the pergola, a new passion flower vine has been planted. The vine is young but full of amazing red flowers; the gardener I spoke with couldn’t recall the exact variety, perhaps Passiflora ‘Lady Margaret’? – regardless of her name, she was lovely to see. A sunny sunflower and a magenta flowered Bougainvillea standard behind the Crescent Garden were also a delight to the eye.

Plan to visit soon, September is a lovely time in the garden!

Summer is winding down, it’s hard to believe that Labor Day is this weekend!  However, the gardens at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum continue to bloom and thrive. Lisa Bencivengo was at the Arboretum recently and captured the following beauties: A close-up of the unusual, vivid deep blue flowers of Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea). This legume is native to the Indonesian island of Ternate. Its roots form a symbiotic association with soil bacteria known as rhizobia and is often used to improve soil quality through the decomposition of nitrogen rich plant material. The other photo shared by Lisa is of the Gravel Garden, located on the small hill above Matilda’s Cottage, now several years old and maturing nicely.

Thank you Lisa!

Including native plants in your garden adds beauty to your landscape and provides food and shelter to butterflies, bees, birds, etc. Following are four beautiful plants that are native to our area, unless otherwise noted:

Silver gem prostrate blue violet (Viola walteri) is a compact, multi-stemmed herbaceous perennial with heart-shaped leaves and tiny violet flowers which forms a slowly spreading groundcover. Viola walteri grows in partial shade and is very drought tolerant once it’s established.

Solar cascade goldenrod (Solidago shortii) is a clump forming perennial with beautiful, miniature golden-yellow flowers borne in axillary clusters along the stems from late summer into fall. Grow it in full sun to part shade in moist, average or dry soil.

Great blue lobelia or blue cardinal flower (Lobelia siphilitica) is a gorgeous native perennnial with a strongly upright habit and covered in tall stalks of strikingly blue flowers from mid to late summer. It’s a bee and butterfly magnet and will thrive in full sun to part shade.

Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata ‘Ice Ballet’), native to MIssouri, is an herbaceous perennial, offering clusters of white, vanilla-scented flowers in mid-summer. This pollinator plant is especially attractive to the larval stage of Monarch butterflies. The flowers are followed by attractive seed pods which split open, releasing the silky haired seeds to the wind.

All of the above thrive in my garden and the plants were all purchased at various plant sales held by the Friends.

Member Michele Blustein visited the Arboretum recently and shared the following photographs with us. A closeup shot of an Echinops ritro flowerhead (globe thistle), followed by a vignette including globe thistle in front of a group of Achillea millefolium’s pastel flowers (Yarrow). The genus name Achillea comes from the mythical Greek character Achilles, who legend tells us, carried it with his army to treat wounded soldiers. Michelle also sent a picture of the Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper vine) in full and glorious bloom. Native to Eastern North America, the trumpet creeper flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies and can be used in erosion control as well as for herbal remedies for women’s health issues.

Thank you Michele!