What’s in Bloom

This deciduous tree native to China, produces large, fragrant, panicles of lavender flowers in the spring.  The wood of this fast growing tree is highly prized and used to make furniture and musical instruments. Japanese craftsmen prize princess-tree wood for making the koto, a six-foot long, stringed instrument that is the national instrument of Japan. Kotos create music when the strings that bridge across the hollow body of the instrument, are plucked. The unique sound is distinctively energetic and reflective because of the resonance of the princess-tree wood.

A beautiful spring flowering Pennsylvania native, dogwood is a medium-sized tree that blooms in late April to early May. 'Cloud 9' is slow growing but it flowers at a young age and is one of the most cold-hardy cultivars. It has been selected for a profuse bloom of showy white over-lapping bracts surrounding a tight cluster of tiny yellowish green flowers. Like other flowering dogwoods, it has red fruit, that attract birds, and reddish purple foliage in the fall providing another season of interest. 

Wild cranesbill has delicate pale to deep pink flowers that bloom in early to mid-spring. It has a deaply cut leaf and grows best in a woodland setting in moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil. Forming loose 2 foot mounds in shade, this native geranium will also grow as a groundcover in sun. Hardy to zone 4, wild cranesbill is native to all counties of Pennsylvania.  This cultivar has dark, brownish-purple leaves.

Mayapple is a native herbaceous plant that produces a single, 3 inch, white flower that is tucked under its wide, palmate, umbrella-like leaf. Commonly found in woodlands and hillsides, mayapples spread to form colonies and grow best in shade. They produce a small green apple-like fruit, giving the plant its common name. Mayapples are self-incompatible, needing cross pollination to fruit. They are native to all counties in Pennsylvania.

The brilliantly colored and slightly fragrant flowers appear as the leaves emerge in spring, making this one of the earliest native azaleas to bloom.  Our selections include plants with yellow, gold, and orange blooms, creating dramatic sweeps of color amongst the trees.  The flame azalea is tolerant of various conditions and is one of the easiest to grow in either sun or shade.

Honeybells is a mat forming shrublet which has attractive fine leaved foliage and yellow bell-like flowers. It grows naturally in sandy areas along the western coastline of South Africa and receives most of its rain during the cool winter months, tolerating extremely dry conditions during the summer. The flowers are honey scented and are produced en mass in the spring.

Davidia involucrata, or dove-tree, is a deciduous tree native to central China. It is best known for its large, pendulous flowers with white bracts that bloom in early May and hang in long rows beneath the level branches. When stirred by the slightest breeze, the flowers resemble white dove wings hovering amongst the tree.

This wisteria, native to Japan, is highly prized for its very long, fragrant racemes of flowers in late spring. The flowers do not all open at once, but begin to open at the base of the raceme and open progressively to the tip. In the Wisteria Garden, the vigorous twining vines are grown on a heavy arbor and also trained into tiered tree forms supported by metal poles.