What's Beautiful Now? April 2019

Pieris japonica  Japanese Andromeda

Spring is truly here and things are popping so fast I can scarcely keep up with our What's in Bloom webpage!

From when I first started working on this blog a week ago to now, I've had to scrap five plants and add fifteen more! (And by the time I've actually posted, there'll be be five more, and by the time you read, another five, things are happening quickly, so get y'all butts on over here!).  I've put to bed our Snowdrops, Crocus, Winter Aconite, my very favorite Witch Hazel 'Jelena', and the Pussy Willow.  Now is peak Daffodil season, but there is so much more to feast your eyes on!

The maple trees put on a subtle show this time of year, creating a haze of reds, spring greens, and even pink as tiny flowers and new foliage emerge.

Acer rubrum  Red Maple

Acer japonicum 'Butterfly'  Japanese Maple

On the Wildflower Trail, spring ephemerals capitalize on the lack of tree canopy, which will shade them out in the summer, to worship the sun.

Anemone blanda  Windflower

Mertensia virginica  Virginia Bluebell

Viburnum bodnantense 'Pink Dawn'  Fragrant Viburnum

Primula denticulata  Drumstick Primrose

Helleborus foetidus  Stinking Hellebore or Bear's Claw

Helleborus 'Golden Lotus Strain'  Lenten Rose

Helleborus 'Penny's Pink'  Lenten Rose

Chionodoxa forbessii  Glory of the Snow

Puschkinia libanotica  Striped Squill

Scilla siberica  Siberian Squill

Reeves-Reed has a wonderful collection of Eastern Redbuds, native to the Northeast, as well as many cultivars.  My favorite, 'Rising Sun' is setting bud by the Visitors Center, and there are white and burgundy variegations throughout the grounds, a weeping form by the Rock Pool.  We also are proud to host their international cousin, which is just chock full of tightly clustered flowers on the Primrose Path. 

Cercis canadensis  Eastern Redbud

Cercis chinensis 'Avondale'  Chinese Redbud

One of the views that I first fell in love with here was rounding the bend in the Serpentine Path in the early morning to catch the rising sun backlight the daffodils and magnolias. 

Magnolia soulangeana  Saucer Magnolia

Looking for a tough shade groundcover that can compete with tree roots, provide evergreen interest?  There are so many wonderful Barrenworts that'll do the trick!  Although slow to spread and a bit pricey, they are absolutely worth it.

Epimedium versicolor 'Sulphureum'  Bishop's Hat or Barrenwort

Epimedium rubrum  Bishop's Hat or Barrenwort

Epimedium x warleyense  Bishop's Hat or Barrenwort

Magnolia stellata  Star Magnolia

So, I know many of you can only come the once and want to see the Daffodil Bowl in full splendor, but there is so much more to Reeves-Reed Arboretum, and I hope you get to see what's beautiful now and the week after that, and the month after that!