What's in Bloom
Bloom Highlights
Alnus incana ‘Pendula’
Weeping Grey Alder
Alnus incana has a broad native range that spans much of temperate North America, from Alaska and California in the west throughout Canada and the northern plain states and Great Lakes region into New England. It also has an extensive range in Europe from France in the west, Scandinavia in the north, Turkey in the south, and central Russia in the east. It is found in wetlands such as marshes, bogs, swamps, and along rivers and streams. It is a medium-sized deciduous tree. Its branches are reddish-brown but mature to produce light grey bark. This cultivar was selected for its dramatic cascading branches. The leaves are medium green, glossy, and ovate to elliptic in shape with margins that vary from crenate to singly or doubly serrate. There are separate male and female flowers amalgamated into two different inflorescences called catkins. The male catkins are long, slender, and pendulous, and are made up of many tiny, apetalous flowers. The female catkins are shorter, ellipsoid, and woody. The male catkins emerge every spring, but the female catkins persist for up to two years. The genus name is the Latin name for alder, and the specific epithet means “gray” in Latin.
Eranthis hyemalis
Winter Aconite
This plant is native to southern Europe from southeastern France to Bulgaria, where it is found in the moist, well-draining soils of woodlands and shady riverbanks. It is a tuberous, herbaceous perennial with an erect, clumping habit that can form small colonies via rhizomatous growth. The stems are stout and fleshy. As they grow, the stems transition from light green to burgundy. The bare stems terminate in a collar of green, leathery, lobed bracts that subtend a solitary, cup-like flower. Each flower has six yellow tepals, six yellow tubular nectaries, and many yellow stamens all around many central pistils. The genus name comes from the Greek words er meaning “spring” and anthos meaning “flower,” while the specific epithet comes from Latin meaning “winter,” both in reference to the bloom time of this plant.
Galanthus nivalis ‘Viridi-Apice’
Green Tip Snowdrop
Galanthus nivalis is native to Europe from the Pyrenees Mountains in the west through western and central Europe to the Balkans and Ukraine in the east, where it is found in woodlands and near streams. In early spring (sometimes late winter), the bulbs of these plants push out two to four linear basal leaves that sometimes have a silvery-blue tinge to mild green leaves. Shortly afterward, the bulb produces a slender, green scape that has a translucent membrane on one side near the tip. The flower is pendulous and hangs from the scape by a green, wiry pedicel. The outer tepals are white, obovate to elliptic, and usually have a basal claw. The inner tepals are obovate to almost triangular with a cleft with a green mark: a U- or V-shape near the cleft. This cultivar was selected for the additional green markings on the tips of the outer tepals. The genus name comes from the Greek words gála and anthos which mean “milk” and “flower” respectively, in reference to the milky white petals. The specific epithet is Latin for “snow” or “associated with snow.”
Hamamelis vernalis ‘KLMNineteen’
Autumn Embers™ Vernal Witch Hazel
Hamamelis vernalis is native to moist, rocky soils of streams, open woodlands, and gravel bars of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. This multistemmed shrub has an open, rounded habit with alternately branching stems covered in smooth, light, greyish-brown bark. The hairy leaves are orbicular with serrate margins with dark green tops and pale green undersides. In early spring, the stems produce clusters of flowers from the previous year’s leaf nodes. Each flower has a fused cup of four sepals that are outwardly light brown and pubescent, but shiny and burgundy on the inside. Four long, strap-like, slightly crinkled yellow petals extend far beyond the sepals, giving the flowers a spidery appearance. This cultivar is noted for its dense clusters of coppery-orange flowers that are strongly fragrant, and red, orange, and yellow autumnal foliage. The genus name comes from the Greek words hama meaning “together with” and mēlon meaning “apple,” referencing how the shrub produces this year’s flowers while last year’s capsules are still on the branches. In this case, “apple” or mēlon is being used as a stand-in for “fruit” in general. The specific epithet is Latin for “spring” in reference to the bloom time.
Salix gracilistyla
Rosegold Pussy Willow
This plant is native to the Russian Far East, northeastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, where it is found in temperate thickets of mountain streams and valleys. It is a multistemmed, deciduous shrub with an erect, spreading habit. The stems emerge green before maturing and producing grayish-tan bark. The branches alternately bear elliptic to oval leaves that are gray-green on top and glaucous underneath with silky hairs. Leaves turn yellow in autumn before dehiscing. In early spring, leaf axils produce a stout catkin inflorescence, each subtended by a singular brown, leathery bract that falls off as the catkin matures. The catkins are covered in silvery-gray hairs and made up of many small apetalous flowers, each with either male or female flowers. Male flowers have rose- and gold-colored anthers while female flowers have yellow-green pistils. The genus name is the Latin name for willows. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin words gracilis, meaning “slender,” and the word styla meaning “style,” which is a portion of the pistil.