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The garden is celebrating it's awakening from the quiet winter months. Here are some of the many flamboyant garden residents you will see. Pollinators and other beneficial insects also make an appearance. It's quite a celebration of Spring!
Can you find these glorious Leach Garden residents?
One typically does not think of a garden being particularly interesting in February, however as you make your way through the garden, you will be greeted with surprising blossoms, almost blossoms, and pockets of heady floral scents.
To all eyes it would seem the garden is quieting down for the season, but if you look closely, you will see all kinds of activity. Here's what Courtney and I found on our recent garden walk. Can you find these things in the garden? What else can you find in the garden this fall? Ginkgo leaves drifting into mossy evergreens, and mushrooms galore. .... and, yes, flowers. Look closely on your visit. There are treasures everywhere. What garden treasures can you find?
In our August Garden Journal entry, we are focusing on the garden's bamboo. "Wait a minute," you say, "bamboo aren't native to this area. Why are they in Leach Garden?" John Leach had a love for bamboo, and so you will find these bamboo (and one that is easily mistaken for one) in various places around the garden. One of them remains a mystery to us - even the garden's records only list the plant as "Bamboo." Can you identify it?
These plants all have something in common other than being residents at the Leach Botanical Garden. Can you discover what it is?
Did you discover the common thread?
They are all very different members of the Berberidacae family. (Thanks for playing!)
In celebration of the arrival of spring, stroll through the garden and enjoy the many pink and white flourishes in both expected and unexpected places.
Both of these natives can be found in the spring garden. While red flowering currant grows from 5’ - 12’, its taller sister,’Pokey’s Pink’, can grow from 12’ - 15’ tall. Both put forth racemes of tubular flowers that are a very popular early food source for hummingbirds, though the red flowering currant has darker pink flowers than ‘Pokey’s Pink’. The resulting currants, later in the season are reported to be quite seedy and best left for birds.
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