Winterthur Garden Blog » magnolia

This Week in the Garden, April 9, 2010

Carol — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:48:18 +0000

Will someone stop hitting the fast forward button, please? Over the past seven days we have progressed about three weeks—flower time, that is. We have gone from smelling the spicy scent of star magnolias (Magnolia stellata) to the perfume fragrance of lilacs (Syringa vulgaris cvs). It makes my head spin even more to think that just a month ago we still were snow covered. This is a whirlwind spring if ever I can remember one. Both extremes in Mother Nature’s weather forecasts have made us have to rethink and prioritize our gardening tasks, tabling some until fall or even next spring since the window for some of our horticultural work has been greatly condensed—or even passed by.

Our saucer magnolias (Magnolia x soulangiana) and cherries are still in flower but are beginning to drop their petals. The emerging leaves from some of our canopy trees are shedding their protective bud scales as well which, along with the petals, can form pretty “debris” on the ground below. One garden task that is ephemeral but a celebration of this above described moment is moving the petals aside—usually with a blower, but a broom or rake will do, too—and creating a pathway that is lined in pastel flower petals, sprinkled with a few spring green bud scales. The grove of magnolias at Magnolia Bend is a perfect setting for this petal pathway as there is a bench placed at the end to draw you in; if not physically then at least visually.

I gave a tour to a group from The Morris Arboretum on Tuesday and we stopped along the Pinetum allee and admired one of our specimen cherries, Prunus ‘Accolade’ at the height of its flower. A light breeze was coming off of the adjacent field and along with the sunlight, created a shimmering effect as the petals fell. Everyone reveled not only in the tree’s beauty in full flower but the magic captured in that moment. As we stood out away from the tree, petals still in our hair, a higher breeze came through and whisked the petals from the tree and in “mid flight” the breeze changed direction and the petals—still high in the air—went back toward the tree, glimmering in the light. We had never seen anything quite like it. Spring can be a frenzied time in a gardener’s world but it is capturing moments such as petals dropping or a first flower opening that allows us to pause for a moment, catch our breath and feed the soul.

Filed under: Garden, Garden Tips, Tours

This Week in the Garden, April 2, 2010

Carol — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:49:03 +0000

There is one word to describe the garden this week and that is fleeting. In a period of seven days we will have experienced relentless, driving rains, wind gusts to 40 mph and temperature swings that vary from upper 20’s to near 80’s. How are plants supposed to respond to that? The nature of our spring flowers is truly ephemeral and completely dependant upon the whims of the weather. I have seen the March Bank maintain its blue color for three weeks—when the planets had aligned just so—but this year it lasted only 4 days. The sunny, near 80 degrees of the next few days will whisk away the flowers of the star magnolias (which escape the below freezing temperatures last weekend), cherries, winterhazel and the remainder of the glory-of-the-snow that are tucked in the cooler pockets of the garden. We will be jet propel into daffodil, saucer magnolia and quince season; all within a few days. This is a perfect weekend to put away the gardening tools and enjoy the transition in flowers; there will be other great gardening weekends ahead but you will have to wait another whole year before seeing these spring flowering beauties again.

Filed under: Garden

Stunning “Elizabeth” Magnolia

Karen — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:10:59 +0000

Today in the Winterthur Garden, the Magnolia denudata “Elizabeth” is just opening with “her” pale yellow blossoms. In just a short walk to get a bit of fresh air, I encountered:

- Museum guests enjoying Elizabeth’s first flowers

- Near the museum store, Leigh Donnelly planting nearly 400 hellebores to complement the many boxwoods recently installed.

- Loes Hutmacher checking on the new plants just in at the plant shop. She reminded me that if I purchase just 6 plants, there’s a 25% discount. It’s time to add Brandywine bluebells to my home garden.

Recently, I spoke with Carol Long about expectations for the extravagent bloom in Azalea Woods. She promised to make a prediction after this weekend’s warm temperatures. Often, the azaleas are at their peak just in time for Mother’s Day.

Brandywine bluebells, magnolias, windflowers, redbuds and flowering quince are the highlights of the week for me. Come and enjoy the Winterthur Garden!

(Current membership or paid admission is required for experiencing the garden. Thank you for helping to preserve and protect this beautiful place.)

Posted in Garden

An Easter Egg Imitation in Nature

Karen — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:54:14 +0000

Guest author, Beth Selsor shares an early morning experience in the Winterthur Garden.

On Monday morning, I arrived at work very early so I could get out into the garden to see my favorite tree, a magnolia called Wada’s Memory. It is my favorite tree in the garden and it only blooms early in April. If you miss it on the one day that the beautiful white blooms are perfect, it’s just not the same tree. It’s still beautiful but it has one true day of absolute glory.

I walked through the pool area and up garden lane into the sundial garden to see the (my) tree. The sun was very low in the eastern sky so as I approached the tree I was disappointed as I thought I had missed its height of beauty. Then I realized the sun was so bright that it was causing me to be unable to see the blossoms. I walked around to the other side of the tree and was rewarded with the full beauty of this amazing tree.

I stood gazing at the tree for a full 10 minutes or so, delighted that I had caught its full beauty this year. With the sun on my back, standing in this spectacular garden, admiring this tree doing its Easter egg imitation in nature, it was a truly spiritual experience and I felt so blessed to I have this garden to enjoy in every season.

I wasn’t quite ready to start work so I wound through the paths passing the glade ponds, said good morning to the fish and headed back to my office, appreciating the perfect start to another week of work at Winterthur.

Author, Lisbeth L. Selsor lives in Delaware and works at Winterthur Museum & Country Estate.

Posted in Garden, Plants

April in the Sundial Garden

Chris Strand — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:19:39 +0000

The blossoms of flowering quince are a sure sign that Winterthur’s Sundial Garden is about to come into its own. In the Sundial Garden, April is like a fireworks show—light the fuse and stand back. This part of the Winterthur Garden was not designed to offer multiple seasons of interest; instead, it was created to look its best in April. With the warmth of the last couple of days, magnolia, quince, and spiraea have begun their display. Presiding over this colorful performance is one of Winterthur’s finest specimen trees, a large, cloud-like Magnolia called ’Wada’s Memory.’