End of May Morning Weather Report in Pictures

If I was on the news doing the weather I might say, "Well folks, it's looking sort of wet, pink and a bit mushroomy out there this morning".

It's Tulip (🌷) Tree Time

I guess if anything is possible as people like to say, then it's entirely possible that at some point in time I will be over the tulip tree. That time is definitely not now though. The tulip tree blooms are mostly way up high, but I found some that had been brought down to the ground by the wind.

In the Parking Lot With Plants

Plants just seem to make everything better. I was in a parking lot at Hostra when I snapped these photos of a median strip garden.

If the Mountain Laurel Hadn't Come to Hofstra

Lucky me. I got to catch some mountain laurel beginning to bloom even though I haven't taken a trip to the mountains or the woods.

All I had to do was take a walk through Hofstra and as the phrase goes, it's as if the mountain came to me.

I'm Not Waiting on a Lady

I'm just waiting on a bloom. Wai-ting-on-a-bloom. (Cue Mick Jagger and a tune)

Hello Lovely, Why Dont I Know Your Name Already?

Some buds caught my eye on a plant I don't yet know the name of. Hopefully when the flowers are open I will have a better chance at learning this lovely thing's name.

Some Colorful Conifers

While out walking in Hofstra's Pinetum, I ran into some pretty colorful conifers that looked like they might have a good story or two to tell, if they could talk that is. Still silently they managed to convey some fashionable ideas about design to me. Is that lime green and what shade of rose is it next to? The color combo is dynamite in the garden if you asked me.

And apparently green is the new brown this season, at least for some cones that is.

Bark of the Week: Stewartia psuedocamellia

                        What's there to say except this tree has got some serious bark?

The Irises That Need a Shave

I gotta say the "beard" on these Irises looks a lot more like a caterpillar to me than some facial hair.

                                                 A goatee? Well, perhaps that I could see.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

When you stop and think that all of these things are green and all of these things are leaves and all of these leaves are on plants can thrive in shade or part shade, one word that comes to mind is the one that Aretha is known for singing and spelling. Another word? Awesome!

Props to the Azaleas and Rhodies This Year

It's time to give some proper props to the Azaleas and Rhodies this year. Different shrubs have been blooming for nearly a month already now and the show isn't over yet.

White Bloom Scorcher

                The alliums appear to be dandelions going to seed which means I must be a giant.

                                 Wouldn't it be nice if ice cream scoops grew on trees?

                                      Hang on, are those snowballs on sticks I spy?

                         It's mid-May and the first scorcher of the year. Is my mind melting?

With Silverbells, but no Cockle shells

As it turns out, that contrary Mary might not have been a gardener at all, but even if she was, it's unlikely that the silver bells of the nursery rhyme have anything to do with the Carolina Silverbell blooms I was standing under this morning. This is only the second time I have seen this native plant blooming, so bumping into these flowers at Hofstra this morning was especially sweet. Some other noteworthy spottings of the day: first yellow swallowtail butterfly of the season and a dragonfly!

"Hallelujah! Halesia!" is how I remember the genus name for this species.

A Little Bit of Bark from the Week

The word is that this Chinese Quince's bark will be even more amazing later in the season. It's something to see right now so I will be keeping my eyes open. And the Parottia persica below, with it's graceful mutliples branches, makes me think of Bonsai.

It's looking Like Fall in Spring

I wouldnt blame someone for being confused about the season when standing before this crepe myrtle one bit.

Alliums (alliyums) For All

Alliums just for decoration to go with the grass or alliums for the bouquet or to sprinkle in a salad.

Alliums for making soup and to make most things you can think of more delicious or native alliums for pollinators up high on green roofs.

How useful, delicious and gorgeous is this genus? Very. Some alliums are outside blooming now.

The Grass Might Not Be Greener

The grass might not be greener on the opposite side of the fence but the wisteria flowering there sure looks dreamy and the scent was delicious. I would wear it but then I think the bumble bees would be chasing me everywhere.

Raspberry Conifer Season

You mean you didn't know some raspberries grew on Christmas trees? Well, now you do.

When was the last time you really looked at what the conifers get up to in the spring? They have spring fever too.

Botanical Heaven on a Hofstra Arboretum Tour with Fred Soviero

I thought I had died and gone to botanical and plant geek heaven yesterday when I was lucky enough to catch a tour of Hofstra's South Campus Arboretum with grounds director Fred Soviero. Of course it's sort of true that I feel like I'm in botanical heaven on a walk on any given day through this campus. But it's not every day that I get to hear binomial names rapid-fire and the Latin too!

So instead of just taking in all the colors, textures and the growth of the moment, which is my habit, I got to hear some of the history of the campus and stories about specific trees while touring the pinetum and some of the fabulous South Campus grounds.

Turns out that the mammoth commanding Katsura I fell in love with the first time we met is the oldest tree on campus and the Chinese Quince with the incredible bark, which I just met last week and is my latest crush, was actually saved and then transplanted from the north shore of Long Island when it was already 30 feet tall and quite massive.

I didn't know that the Hofstra campus was a registered arboretum when I first went for a walk on the grounds, but I knew immediately I was somewhere special that people had spent a good while creating and maintaining.