Spring has arrived! Magnolias, daffodils, and wildflowers… Oh my!
The landscape and gardens of The Morton Arboretum are in full bloom this week after several days of unusually warm weather.
Sweeps of yellow daffodils are dancing over many areas of the Arboretum, including Daffodil Glade (Parking Lot 22) and Sargent’s Glade (Parking Lot 26) on the West Side. Golden daffodils and blue Siberian squill can be seen on the East Side around the Visitor Center (Parking Lot 1), in the Elm Collection (Parking Lot 2), near Crabapple Lake (Parking Lot 5), and near Parking Lot 14 and Parking Lot 16.
Colorful annual flowers and spring bulbs abound in the seasonal displays and container plantings in the area around the Visitor Center (Parking Lot 1), including Arbor Court, the entrance of the Administration and Research Center, and the new Grand Garden, as well as around the Thornhill Education Center (Parking Lot 21).
Perennial gardens are just beginning to sprout and bloom, such as the Ground Cover Garden near the Visitor Center (Parking Lot 1) and the Joy of Plant garden in the Grand Garden (Parking Lot 1). The Four Seasons Garden, Fragrance Garden, and Joy Path gardens near Thornhill Education Center (Parking Lot 21) are also in bloom.
It’s not just the colors that are stirring. Enjoy the scents of fragrant viburnum, fragrant honeysuckle, boxwood, and hyacinths around the Administration and Research Center, near the Visitor Center, along Joy Path, and in the Fragrance Garden.
Magnolias are blooming in pink and white on Frost Hill (Parking Lot 3) and in the Magnolia Collection on the East Side (Parking Lot 5), as well as in the Flowering Trees Collection on the West Side (Parking Lot 19). Silvery or green fuzzy dangling catkins are charming in the Willow Collection (near Parking Lot 33).
In many locations around the Arboretum, shrubs are putting on a colorful show, including yellow forsythia, white forsythia, and rhododendrons. More flowering trees and shrubs will be blooming soon. On deck are flowering quince, pears, crabapples, serviceberry, and buckeyes.
Among the perennials in bloom now in the Ground Cover Garden and elsewhere are Lenten- and Christmas-roses as well as periwinkle and Siberian squill.
In the restored natural woodlands on the East Side and in many other locations, woodland wildflowers have sprung up, adding color to the forest floor. In bloom now are spring beauty, toothwort, Dutchman’s breeches, white and yellow dog-toothed violets, bloodroot, hepatica, ironwood, and buttercups. Soon, large colonies of Virginia bluebells will be in flower. Many wildflowers can be seen along the Main Trail Loop 4 in the East Woods, between Parking Lot 10 and the Big Rock Visitor Station (Parking Lot 13).
The bloom season is moving fast due to warm weather this week. Visit the Arboretum early and often to keep up with the progression of spring blooms and make sure you don’t miss your favorites!
