Blooms are continuing to open early this year!

Hellebores (Christmas-roses and Lenten-roses, pictured above) are in full bloom along the path in the Ground Cover Garden and in front of the Visitor Center. Look for yellow blooms on forsythias in Parking Lot 1 near the Visitor Center, the Ground Cover Garden, and the area around Godshalk Meadow (Parking Lot 33). White-forsythia is beginning to flower starting along the Entrance Drive and near the Visitor Center, and in the Dwarf Woody Plant Collection east of Firefly Pavilion (Parking Lot 1).

On the Arboretum’s West Side, snowdrops continue to bloom in the Fragrance Garden and elsewhere around the Thornhill Education Center (Parking Lot 21). Winter aconite and white-forsythia are also blooming near the Fragrance Garden. West of Lake Marmo and south of the dam at the west end of the lake along Willoway Brook, skunk-cabbage is blooming. Patches of light lavender snow crocus are in full bloom on the hill above Parking Lot 14. A couple of brave magnolias are starting to bloom near Parking Lot 17 and near Joy Path across from Parking Lot 19.

In the trees of the Arboretum’s living collections and woodlands, look for blooms that give a flush of color to the branches of red, silver, and Freeman’s maples and American elms. Dangling catkins are growing longer on several species of hazelnut shrubs. Willow catkins are reaching their peak in the Midwest Collection (Parking Lot 2), the European Collection (Parking Lot 19), the China Collection (Parking Lot 17), and near the East Branch of the DuPage River.

Cornelian-cherry dogwood and Japanese cornel dogwood have started to bloom yellow near The Gerard T. Donnelly Grand Garden, in the Ground Cover Garden, around Meadow Lake, and near the Thornhill Education Center.

There are even daffodils! A few very early yellow daffodils are beginning to bloom on the West Side between parking lots 19 and 20 and along the road above Lake Marmo near Parking Lot 27.

There’s no telling what the weather may bring next, so take the chance to enjoy the bounty of an early spring at The Morton Arboretum.

The Spring Bloom Report is written by the Arboretum’s Manager of Plant Records, Ed Hedborn. It is typically published on Fridays through spring to give members and guests a chance to plan their weekend visits.

The Morton Arboretum is more than a walk in the woods. Explore upcoming learning opportunities and events to learn more about trees and plants and to celebrate your love of nature.

Celebrate the contributions that women have made to the natural world through conservation work, science, advocacy, and education during the Women and the Environment Speaker Series, Thursdays in March. Inspire a love of nature and engage young readers at the Tales From the Great Outdoors: A Children’s Books Family Event at the Arboretum’s Sterling Morton Library on Saturday, March 16.