This Sunday May 22 is our third annual Rose Walk.
Pat Austin (Photo: Hubert Steed)
The Rose Walk is a self-guided tour of our more than 50 different varieties of roses. Visitors can pick up a printed guide at the patio or open the guide on their phone by reading on here.
It has been unseasonably cold for the last two weeks, which gives us more time with our beautiful irises.
Don’t these light blue flowers remind of a painting by Claude Monet?
They are the first to open, along with the variety with dark purple falls and an orange beard seen below.
Some irises are quite fragrant and different varieties have surprisingly different scents, almost like roses. It is worth checking out this lovely fragrance. Sniffing should be done carefully, though. Iris blossoms have brittle stems and can break off easily.
Over the next days, many more flowers will open, showing a beautiful palette of colors from dark blue over almost red to golden yellow. Here is a little taste, but there are even more!
All of the flowers above belong to bearded irises, which are hybrids between several species. There are more than 30,000 varieties of bearded irises! Some gardens are specialized in displaying many of them. One of the World’s largest is Presby Memorial Iris Garden, just across the Hudson River in Montclair, NJ.
photos by Hubert Steed and Karin Kiontke
Who finds bearded irises too opulent may like the Japanese iris (Iris sanguinea) with its more delicate flowers on elegant tall stems. We have several stands, and the flowers are just beginning to open.
Irises and roses go well together. Check them both out during our Annual Rose Walk this coming Sunday May 22! (see previous post)
We are proud to announce our Third Annual Rose Walk on Sunday in two weeks, on May 22.
The Rose Walk is a free self-guided tour of the garden’s more than fifty different varieties of roses, nestled among lovingly tended varieties of annuals and perennials. The Rose Walk is held at the peak blooming season for roses, and garden members will be available to answer questions about the roses and other heirloom plants in the garden.
The first Rose Walk was organized in 2014 on the occasion of a visit from the American Rose Society.
Rosarians in the Garden on June 8 2014 (All photos: Hubert Steed)
Then, the roses were at their best. We hope that they will be just as beautiful this year.
Last week, our tree peonies started to bloom. They drew many visitors into the garden and no wonder! For a short time, these flowers are really spectacular!
Photo by Shinichi Harada
This is our pink peony, and below is the magenta one.
We also have a striped variety, and our latest addition is yellow. It flowered for the first time this year.
The peonies may steal the show for a little while, but there are also tulips…
photo by Hubert Steed
… and the crab apple tree was gorgeous, too.
Finally, I can report that we have bees again. Barbara and Sara picked them up in the Carleton Bears Community Gardena few weeks ago right before a cold snap. Our bees got through this rough weather fine and are out and about. We could see them busily collecting nectar from crab apple blossoms and pollen from the peonies.
The garden is now open every day when the weather is fair from about 9 a.m. until it gets dark. If you visit, please stay on the main path and leave everything the way you found it.
Aside from the near-record snow fall in January, we had a rather mild winter.
Now, white forsythia, crocuses and early daffodils are open, and there is even a first tulip.
The buds on crab apple tree and quince bushes are almost ready to burst, too.
We will resume our official open hours on Saturday April 16 at 10:00 am. If the weather is nice, chances are that the gate will be open even earlier.
April 3 2016
It is two weeks later now, and the quince is in full bloom. Our peach tree has also opened its flowers. The crab apple is still waiting for a few more sunny days.
This coming week will be a bit of a setback with freezing nights and even snow, if the forecast is right. But that should be the last of it for this season!
