Bloom times vary from year to year according to the weather. But if you are planning ahead, here is our best guess...
Apr
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April Visit the Wildflower Garden, where trillium, hepaticas, trout lilies, and bloodroots are blooming. Look for the yellow flowers of the cornelian cherry tree throughout the collections and the "Cornell Pink" rhododendrons around Plantations' headquarters and on campus. |
May A good month to see the flowering trees and shrubs in the arboretum; look for redbud, shadblow, cherries, crabapples, magnolias, and viburnums. Around the headquarters, the rhododendrons and peonies are beginning their annual display, and the Japanese primroses at Treman Woodland Walk are stunning. |
June A good month to visit all the collections. The gardens around headquarters are a mass of color. Peonies, astilbes, false indigo, Texas blue-star, rhododendrons, masterworts, cranesbills, Siberian iris, and the "big-leaf" magnolia, are just a few of many highlights. The yellow flags and water lilies in the ponds are in full bloom, pink and white dame's rocket brightens the Baird Field Flower meadow, and fringe trees, viburnums, and spireas bloom in the arboretum. |
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The best month to visit the herb garden, enjoy the tapestry of foliage in the groundcover collection, and edible flowers in the Pounder Heritage Garden. Fragrant azaleas can also be discovered in the rhododendron collection. Daylilies in the shrub collection and in the Class of 1960 Daylily Garden on Tower road are in bloom. |
August A good month to enjoy red, gold, blue, variegated, fuzzy, filigree, and round foliage in the groundcover collection, along the steep slopes of the rhododendron collection. This is the best month to see the herb garden's collection of scented geraniums; the tomatoes, eggplants, pole beans, and cabbages in the Pounder Heritage Garden; and grains, castor beans, and cotton in the International Crop and Weed Garden. |
September Hardy cyclamens, Japanese anemones, asters, Kirengeshoma, tender Mediterranean and Western sages, as well as ornamental grasses come into bloom around the headquarters. In the Pounder Heritage Garden look for pumpkins and winter squashes. |
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October A good month to enjoy bright fall foliage and fruits. Newman Overlook provides a panoramic view of the colors in the arboretum and woods along Fall Creek. The red and yellow fruits of viburnums, winterberries, and hawthorns can be seen at the Zucker Shrub Sampler, while the hardy kiwis mature at the headquarters. |
A good time to study garden design before the snow conceals the gardens and their architectural features. Ornamental grasses still provide color throughout the collections. |
December Before the snow gets too deep, tour the variety of colors and textures of bark offered in the collections. Plants to look for include birches, cherries, parrotia, beech, kousa dogwood, and stewartia. |
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January Discover and identify animal tracks: look for winter berries and interesting bark among shrubs and trees. Study outlines of spruces, firs, and pines. Bring binoculars to look for hawks in the Arboretum and Beebe Lake. |
Escape from the cold and snow to the humid tropics by visiting the orchid and tropical foliage display in the solarium at the A.D. White House. |
March Witch hazel blossoms unfurl throughout the collections in the warm days of early spring. As snow melts, tiny bulbs and early-blooming alpine plant emerge in the Rock Garden. A stroll through the boggy areas of the Wildflower Garden will be rewarded with sightings of American skunk cabbages. In campus and around the headquarters buildings, look for Lenten roses, pheasant's-eyes, snowdrops, and pasque flowers. On cold days, plan a visit to the orchid display in the Farrand solarium at the A. D. White House. |
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