Weeping Red Jade Crabapple

This Crabapple is a weeping, white-flowered crabapple that typically matures to 12-15' tall and 20' wide. It is best planted as a specimen in an area where its weeping shape can be appreciated. It is noted for its weeping shape, white flowers and red fruit. Birds will be attracted to your yard because of its fruit.

You will find it in full bloom at the side entry door of our Linneaus Teaching Barn. It is best grown in medium moisture, well-drained, acidic loams in full sun. However, it does adapt to a wide range of soils and should be pruned as needed, after flowering but before June.

White buds tinged with pink open in spring to white flowers, followed by bright red crabapples that mature in fall and may persist into winter.

Boulder Garden Spring View

When walking through the garden to see what plants were in bloom we could not resist taking an overall view of all the new growth around our stream at the top of the Boulder Garden. After our long hard winter this view put a smile on our faces as we looked at it and then each other.

Come see it for yourself and take a deep breath of springtime.

Euonymus Emerald Gold

Although Emerald Gold can achieve somewhat larger dimensions by maturity (if left unpruned), these shrubs are most often pruned to be kept compact. With their low-mounding habit, Emerald Gold can function as a groundcover as shown in our garden.

Grow them in well-drained soils either in the sun or shade, however they will produce their best color display if planted in full sun.

Avondale Chinese Redbud - (Cercis chinensis )

The first sign of spring comes with this wonderful tree whose branches are smothered in tight clusters of double dark pink, almost purple blooms. Not only are our visitors awe struck but it appears the butterflies and bees are also enjoying its splendor.

This cultivar was selected for its superior flowers, which are more intensely deep pink as well as more densely clustered along its branches, than is typical of the species. Green leaves of this Asian cousin of Eastern Redbud are glossier green than its North American counterpart, and turn yellow in the fall.

Avondale Redbud is multi-stemmed and grows in a rounded form to a height and spread of about 10 to 12 feet.

Our Linnaeus Teaching Garden has this specimen growning next to the stream - you must check it out!

Oklahoma Redbud

This Redbud is highly drought tolerant once established and grows well in all areas within its hardiness range of 6B thru 9A. The deep pink to red flowers appear in profusion up and down the tree limbs in springtime, well before the leaves begin to emerge, creating probably one of the best Redbud displays. It also has a subdued red-burgundy fall color. As a young tree it will benefit from some training and pruning to form an upright, more uniform crown. You can find it across the path at the top of the boulder garden next to the fence.

Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry

This plant grows from 15 to 25' tall with multiple stems forming a dense shrub or, if pruned properly, a small tree. It adapts to a very wide range of soils and is somewhat drought tolerant.

Its spectacular show of white flowers in early spring is one of its main ornamental features. They begin as a pale pink, then fade to snowy white fragrant flowers. Its young leaves are purplish in color, then turn red, orange, and yellow in the fall. The fruit is round, sweet and edible in summer which is good for wildlife and also for human consumption.

To sum it up, here is an easy to grow plant which is featured in many gardening and landscape magazines - it can be found along the path of the Linnaeus boulder garden.

Blackhaw Viburnum

This is a native Viburnum species and the garden is displaying it next to the arched bridge.

Viburnum's are very hardy and should be planted in spring, early summer, or early fall. Showy, berry-producing plants are gaining popularity in home landscapes and this viburnum fits the bill. Species and cultivar selection determine sun preference and landscape use - the Blackhaw prefers the sun. Viburnums prefer slightly acidic, well-drained soils and offer season long interest for your landscape.

Choosing a favorite viburnum is tough because they have flamboyant qualities, some being known for their fragrant flowers and others for their showy fruit. Some have evergreen foliage while others are deciduous and of course the mature size needs to be considered when planting. Other than that you cannot go wrong because they all have outstanding landscape attributes.

Red Chokeberries (Aronias)

These plants are located in the corner of the herb garden.

If you want a plant that has a different look with each season this is the plant that is a must in your landscape. Small white fragrant flowers are displayed in April and are followed by waxy bright green leaves in summer, which turn brilliant scarlet in the fall along with glossy bright red berries.

This is a medium-size, upright, deciduous shrub 6 to 8 feet in height with an open growth habit and a round top. It is best planted in groups or massed and prefers sun to partial shade.

Encore Azaleas

Our garden is sporting some new Encore Azaleas and they are the most cold hardy of all the encore varieties.

If you love Azaleas in the spring and wish that their bloom cycle could happen more than once a year then the Encore Azalea is your answer.

After the spring blooming period, these amazing azaleas begin growing new shoots and start blooming into full flower in mid-summer. They have occasional flowers throughout the entire growing season and can have a flourish of flowers even in the fall.

Dianthus

This little plant is a show stopper for a brilliant spring display. Dianthus flowers are fringed, single or semi-double, and are produced in masses which add to the early flower show with redbuds, dogwoods, daffodils, and other spring bloomers. The small clumping and dainty height are perfect for borders, rock gardens, edging plants, or container patio displays. The grayish spike-like foliage on some selections makes a nice contrast plant in the perennial garden.

Check out the rock garden in the Linnaeus Garden to see a wonderful display of these little show stoppers.

Rainbow Coral Roses

The Rainbow Knock Out Rose covers itself with coral pink blooms with a rich yellow center. It has compact growth and blooms nonstop all summer. This award-winning rose is outstanding and puts on a flower display all summer in the garden. The blossoms are a lovely coral-pink color with a semi-double form. The foliage is resistant to disease -- even in humid climates. It's great for mass plantings. Or just blend in with your perennials for nonstsop summer color.

Roses need sun (at least 6 hours daily); well-drained, fertile soil; and consistent and adequate soil moisture to thrive and produce the most blossoms. And like all the other Knock Out Roses it is resistant to blackspot, powdery mildew, and rust - no wonder it can bloom so heavily and long.

You can find this plant along the driveway just below the entrance to the garden.

Diamond Frost Euphorbia

We can't talk enough about this little plant - what a stunner. Whether you have a large garden, small patio or just a sunny windowsill, this plant is a must have. It produces delicate, gray-green foliage with ethereal white blossoms. Even though it looks very delicate it is a tough plant - both heat and drought tolerant. It blooms constantly throughout the summer. The unstoppable flower power and airy form make it an excellent alternative to baby's breath, which tends to fade quickly.

This is a wonderful plant to use in your container garden to act as a filler and to make those other plants stand out. It also can fill up a bare spot in a flower border - spaced 9 to 10 inches apart the plants will quickly grow together resulting in a frothy drift of white blooms. It is a compact grower reaching a mature height of 12 to 18 inches. Give it full sun to partial shade and good drainage and Diamond Frost will bloom from spring until temperature drop below 32 degrees in fall. In the fall you can bring them indoors as a houseplant and they look absolutely wonderful in a pot with poinsettias.

You can see this plant in the garden entryway and also tucked into some of our pots.

Weigela

This colorful plant can be found at the bottom of the rock garden right next to the water feature.

Its marvelous display of pink flowers will truly draw your attention. Weigela is known for its distinctly dazzling early flowers that hummingbirds adore. The most common flower colors are red and pink.

One of the best features of Weigela is that it is user friendly. Adaptable to many soil types, it is hardy to zone 4 and has no serious pest problems. It is easy to propagate, easy to grow and presents itself well in a container. The only requirement of this plant is that it requires full sun to produce copious flowers.

Virginia Sweetspire

This old time favorite native plant for southern landscapes has been used for generations because of its seasonal beauty, hardiness, durabiltiy and resistance to disease and insect pests. Virginia Sweetspire has many notable characteristics - gorgeous white, slightly fragrant flowers that show up in late April to May and for the superb fall color. It is tolerant of wet soils, yet amazingly it has very good drought tolerance. When placed in full sun the foliage gets denser and the flowers are more abundant.

Flowers are formed on the previous season's wood so we should always wait until after flowering to prune. In the fall, the leaves change to burgundy-purple which presents an attractive contrast to broadleaf evergreens in the landscape.

Plant them en masse for best effect - if given adequate sunlight and moisture they will supply many years of enjoyment.

Nelly Moser Hybrid Clematis

This Clematis has enormous flowers, 8 to 9 inches across, which completely cover the vines from May through frost. Its vivid colors make the blossoms look tropical, but clematis is tough and hardy and is nearly carefree once established.

It requires a support and climbs 8 to 12 feet. Like all other Clematis it does best when planted in full sun with roots shaded. You can find it growing on the archway between the Vegetable and Fountain gardens.

Summer Snowflake Viburnum

Viburnums have become favorites with gardeners because of their multiple periods of interest – showy flowers in the spring, attractive berries that birds love and good fall color. Summer Snowflake adds to this impressive list of attributes by having repeat blooming characteristics not previously found in viburnums. The heaviest display of white flowers will be produced from mid April to mid May, but throughout the rest of the summer additional flowers will be produced as the plant grows. Because the plant continues to bloom throughout the summer, it seldom sets fruit. Summer Snowflake has a decidedly erect form and is suited for use as an entryway plant, for screening, or as part of a mixed border.

It has a height between 8 and 10 feet with a spread of 5 to 6 feet. It is easily grown in any reasonable soil. To keep the plant in bloom, it must make some new growth. Even though the plant is very drought tolerant, it will not bloom as much if not watered during our driest months. It can be planted in any season and requires full sun to part shade. You can find this gorgeous specimen plant in our Boulder garden.

Ninebark

Ninebark is a medium large multi-stemmed shrub in the Rose family with a height and spread of 6 to 9’. The recurved arching branches are crowded and dense with the older, most vigorous shoots showing heavy exfoliation (hence the common name). The leaves are simple, alternate, and toothed, mostly ovate shaped with those on the large, older branches usually having three lobes and ranging from l l/2 to 2 1/2” long and about as wide. The leaves on the smaller, younger shoots are variable in shape but are much smaller than those on the larger shoots.

The flowers, emerging in late April, are formed in a white, tight, dense corymb on the new season’s growth. The fruit, an inflated capsule, usually 5 to a cluster, forms immediately as flowering ceases, progressing in color from rosy pink to soft buff through the summer until ripening in early fall.

Ninebark is perfect in a shrub border with other large flowering shrubs such as Weigela, Spiraea, Forsythia and Viburnums. In our landscapes it is perfect close to a chain length fence where the tallest canes can arch through the holes giving a vine-like effect.

Our Linnaeus Garden has one displayed in the boulder area next to the stream to provide color from March through early winter. Ninebark is very adaptable and undemanding only asking for as much sun as possible and average soil a little in the acid range. It’s drought tolerant after establishment and very long lived. It can be transplanted from containers at any time, but the ideal time is when it’s dormant. It can grow quite large but is extremely amenable to selective pruning, which allows its owner to keep it looking perfect for the area in which it was planted.

Golden Ragwort - Senecio aureus

This native perennial wildflower is showing its stuff in early spring in our boulder garden. It is a beautiful plant in flower and makes an effective groundcover even in dry shade conditions. For these reasons it is often used in native landscape gardens and meadow plantings.

The nectar and pollen of the flowers are attractive to small bees. Golden Ragwort is a carefree plant which prefers full sun to light shade in wet to moist soils with ample organic matter to retain moisture. The blooming period occurs early spring and lasts about three weeks.

Lorapetalum

Lorapetalum - weeping variety, spring

Lorapetalum - upright variety, fall

The Lorapetalum is a dense, tight growing, cold hardy shrub with leaves that are ruby red when they first emerge and then range through tones of bronze and varying shades of green.

The leaves are delightful on their own, but then you get the added pop of frazzled fringy pink flowers in the spring and fall. It makes a very attractive potted specimen plant which is how we show it in the garden. You can see it displayed in our Linnaeus Garden both as a weeping variety (Herb Garden) and an upright plant (Boulder Garden).

Asian Pear - Pyrus Pyrifolia

This tree can be found in our vegetable garden and is currently in full bloom with white flowers.

It is a woody perennial with a crown of branches that begin atop a single stem or trunk and is grown for its fruit which is commonly called the apple pear because of its crisp texture.

These pears are a popular symbol of spring in East Asia, and are a common sight in gardens or the countryside.

Rosemary

Come see our Rosemary in full flower in our herb garden. This is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen needle-like leaves. The flowers appear in winter or spring and are variable in color, being white, pink, purple, or blue.

Since it is attractive and tolerates some degree of drought, rosemary is also used in landscaping as it is easily pruned into shapes and has been used for topiary.

The fresh and dried leaves are used frequently in traditional Mediterranean cuisine. They have a bitter, astringent taste, which complements a wide variety of foods. Rosemary is extremely high in iron, calcium, and Vitamin B6.

Fothergilla Gardenii 'Blue Shadow'

In April, Fothergilla shows off it's dazzling bottlebrush flowers.

This plant has proven to be a showstopper. This alluring plant cries out for attention with its beautiful spring flower display, gray-blue summer foliage and exceptional, rich-red leaves in fall.

Of all its favorable attributes, the striking blue hue is what really sets this Fothergilla apart. It's a winner in landscapes and provides a sharp color contrast to companion plants, particularly those with golden foliage. 'Blue Shadow' forms a dense network of angular stems. It's an upright grower that broadens with age, eventually becoming 5-6 feet high and wide. It is tolerant of both full sun and partial shade. A semi-shade location will result in a more open habit.

Like other Fothergilla, 'Blue Shadow' is native to the Southeast and has no known disease or insect susceptibilities and thrives in somewhat acidic soil with good moisture and adequate drainage. In April to early May, 'Blue Shadow' will dazzle bystanders with honey-scented, bottlebrush flowers. Outstanding blue leaves soon follow. In mid-October to late November, fall colors appear. Rich red dominates and is often accompanied by shades of orange and dark yellow, so this plant has seasonal interest galore. You can find this wonderful plant in full spring bloom in our Boulder Garden and as a container plant near the greenhouse.

Rhododendron Peppermint Twist

This 2007 Rhododendron of the Year Award has pink flowers with a white throat and is about 2 3/4 inches across. When you see it, you will realize how well the name fits the plant. It has red buds, opening to rose pink flowers, with red flecks in the throat and a white circle in the throat which slowly grows larger each day. The overall effect is like a "peppermint twist."

As the flower ages it turns white with pale pink margins. The trusses hold about 12 flowers so as the picture shows each plant has multiple colors and contrasts. It is blooming now in our Entry Garden in the Woodland area between the south steps and the iron fence.