What's in Bloom
Bloom Highlights
Adonis amurensis
Amur Adonis
This plant is found in rich soils of mountainous grasslands in far eastern Russia, northeastern China, Korea, and northern Japan. In early spring, these plants’ rhizomes will start to push up thick, unbranching stems no taller than 5 inches. These stems bear dark green, deeply veined, triangular, pinnate leaves. The leaflets are ovate to lanceolate with sharply pinnately lobed margins. Soon after leafing, the apex of each stem will produce a flower bud with greyish-green to purple sepals. The flower blooms with about 20 bright yellow petals surrounding many yellow stamens that ring a button of green ovaries with yellow stigmas. The genus name refers to the ancient Greek mythological character, Adonis, who was the human lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. According to legend, he was killed by a great boar sent by a jealous Ares and red flowers bloomed from his grave. In some translations, these flowers were Adonis, while in others they were Anemone (also in the Ranunculus family). The specific epithet references the major river that forms part of the border between China and Russia where this plant is native.
Galanthus elwesii
Giant Snowdrop
Native to the Balkans and Asia Minor, this plant can be found in woodlands, scrublands, rocky meadows, and on the banks of streams. In early spring (sometimes late winter), the bulbs of these plants push out two to four linear basal leaves that sometimes have a silvery-blue tinge to mild green leaves. Shortly afterward, the bulb produces a slender, green scape that pokes out of the snow. The scape has a translucent membrane on one side near the tip; this is where the flower emerges. The flower is pendulous and hangs from the scape by a green, wiry stem called a pedicel. The outer petals are white, obovate to broadly ovate, and usually have a basal claw. The inner petals are obovate to almost triangular with a cleft. The outsides of the inner petals usually have two green marks: a U- or V-shape near the cleft and a large X or oval near the base. The genus name comes from the Greek words gála and which mean “milk” and “flower” respectively in reference to the milky white petals. The specific epithet honors Henry John Elwes, who was the English botanist, entomologist, lepidopterist, author, and collector who introduced this plant to Western Europe.
Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Sunburst’
Sunburst Witch Hazel
This is a hybrid of Hamamelis japonica and Hamamelis mollis, which are native to Japan and central and eastern China respectively. Both are found in the temperate biomes of mountainous and woodland regions. This multistemmed shrub has an open, rounded habit with alternately branching stems coved in smooth, light, greyish-brown bark. The hairy leaves are orbicular with serrate margins with dark green tops and pale green undersides. In late winter to early spring, the stems produce clusters of flowers from the previous year’s leaf nodes. Each flower has a fused cup of four sepals that are outwardly light brown and pubescent, but shiny and burgundy on the inside. Four long strap-like, slightly twisted yellow petals extend far beyond the perianth cup, giving the flowers a spidery appearance. This cultivar is noted for its clusters of flowers with bright lemon yellow (almost highlighter yellow) petals and its yellow-orange autumn leaves. The genus name comes from the Greek words hama meaning “together with” and mēlon meaning “apple,” referencing how the shrub produces this year’s flowers while last year’s capsules are still on the branches. In this case, “apple” or mēlon is being used as a stand-in for “fruit” in general. The hybrid epithet is Latin for “intermediate” to indicate that the characteristics of this hybrid are right in between the two parental species.
Juniperus virginiana ‘Grey Owl’
Grey Owl Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana is native to a large portion of eastern North America from South Dakota and Nova Scotia in the north to central Texas and northern Florida in the south. With a broad native range, its natural habitats are just as varied, from prairies and woodlands to swamps and wetlands, to rocky slopes and sandy dunes. This needle evergreen has a dense, slow-growing habit. The stems are covered in a greyish-brown bark that exfoliates to expose light reddish-brown wood. The foliage is bluish-green with a light silvery overlay. The very short needles are arranged oppositely pairs or are in whorls of three and overlap each other like scales. This is a dioecious species, meaning male and female flowers are on separate plants. Male flowers are small and inconspicuous. Female flowers produce round, berry-like cones that are a deep blue and generally have a white waxy covering that lightens their appearance. This cultivar is noted for its wide-spreading, slow-growing, compact form that does not usually exceed 3 feet tall and its silvery grey-green foliage. The genus name is the Latin for juniper trees and the specific epithet means “from Virginia,” which reflects a small portion of its native range.
Tsuga canadensis ‘Pendula’
Weeping Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis is native to much of Appalachia from northern Georgia through New England and Nova Scotia in the northeast and southern Ontario in the north. There are disjunct native populations in northern Michigan and Wisconsin and in northwest Alabama. It can be found in moist woodlands and on rocky hillsides. This fast-growing needled evergreen has a dense pyramidal habit with fine-textured foliage. The trunks are covered in reddish-brown to greyish-brown thick scaly bark with irregular fissures, while the young stems are a warm greyish-brown and pubescent. The leaves are spirally arranged around the stems. The medium-green leaves are small, flat, needles with slender stalks attached to the stems and have minutely dentate margins near their apex. Male flowers look like tiny yellow blackberries at the tips of branches to help them releasee pollen in the wind. The female flowers are scaly cones; they start off ovoid, green, and closed as they mature, and then lengthen, turn coppery-brown, and open their scales to release seeds. This cultivar is noted for its weeping branches. The genus name is derived from the Japanese for this kind of tree. The specific epithet means native to Canada.