Two Spring Favorties now in Bloom!

Two favorite spring blooming plants at Powell Gardens are currently in bloom: Oriental Wisterias and Azaleas! The slow, cool spring has been much to their liking and their flowers are lasting a long time. Look for Wisterias covering the Perennial Garden lakeside arbor and Azaleas throughout the Rock & Waterfall Garden.


Oriental Wisterias (the hybrid cultivar 'Caroline' depicted) are quite fickle in our climate. Oriental wisterias set flower buds the previous late summer and fall. In spring, emerging flower buds are often nipped by a late freeze and hence they never bloom. This year they are grand! Oriental Wisterias bloom before most of their foliage is out and the flowers are very large and fragrant; making them the a spring favorite. We have tried many types of Oriental Wisteria and the cultivars 'Caroline' and 'Texas Purple' are our best performers. We recommend you grow a selected cultivar to ensure good bloom as we have some wisterias that are more than a decade old and have never bloomed! There are also American native species of wisterias which bloom in late spring/early summer and they are 100% reliable because our weather has settled down by then.

America's favorite shrub is also painting the understory of the Rock & Waterfall Garden: Azaleas! It is best to come walk through the garden to get the full effect of their rich hues, the spring sunshine, the floral aromas and the songs of all the visceral birds in the garden. I tried to find some compositions to capture the glory of the garden this morning but agreed with several visitors that it is something that must be experienced in person.


The top performing azalea in the Rock & Waterfall Garden is the cultivar 'Herbert' seen here. It has what is called hose-in-hose flowers (its like two flowers in one) of a vibrant lavender purple and a darker flare.


Herbert azaleas like most of them, look better in masses set among shade loving plants.


We have some azaleas you cannot see in these parts including this white Glenn Dale Azalea. It is an unknown cultivar that was a good doer by long-time local nurseryman and azalea enthusiast Andy Klapis. Andy is currently in his late 80's and donated the original collection of Rock & Waterfall azaleas. I gave him a call to let him know that the azaleas are spectacular this spring. We have both a pink and white Glenn Dale azalea from him that are among our most spectacular azaleas.


Azalea Girard's Dwarf Lavender is a great choice for small spaces and vivid color.


Azalea 'Girard's Hot Shot' has orange in its red blossoms so can be difficult to sight in the landscape though is beautiful with other red azaleas and white flowering dogwoods.


Azalea 'Stewartstownian' is our best red azalea and can be found in good masses in the Rock & Waterfall Garden. Again it can be a bit difficult to sight in a landscape but is gorgeous set with green foliage and white flowering dogwood. Blue flowers like woodland phlox and Spanish bluebells are also good companions.


Powell Gardens are currently at their peak of spring color! Dogwoods (see prior blog) and azaleas are as good as ever this year. Together with the wisterias on the perennial garden arbor a visit to the Powell Gardens delivers an ethereal experience.

Flowers & Berries of the Late Summer Season

Fall is in the air but sunshine has returned after our two bouts with remnants of hurricanes. We have had no less than 7-1/2" of rain at Powell Gardens in the past two weeks so the gardens are as lush as ever. Many of our most beautiful fruiting shrubs and small trees are becoming quite showy now and there are some really special flowers of the season as well.

Many Asian hybrid crabapples have beautiful displays of fruit from now until severe cold. This is the cultivar 'Centurion' south of the Perennial Garden arbor. Powell Gardens' crabapples have great displays of fruit but not foliage: it has been a year of severe pests on crabapples from webworms to leaf-eating beetles. Disease resistant varieties fared no better than any. We will still enjoy their beautiful fruit displays for months!

The Chinese Seven Sons (Heptacodium miconioides) is adorned with myriads of white flowers (in small clusters of 7). The fragrant white flowers would not be that showy for spring but are a welcome sight in this season. Seven Sons becomes a small tree 15 to maybe 20 feet in height. It has beautiful sandy bark that exfoliates through the season to show an alabaster base. Seven Sons has proven to be a great plant for our region and has earned a Plant of Merit status.

The flowers of Seven Sons attract every butterfly nearby! The tree may be cloaked in a dozen species of butterflies: here a Red-spotted Purple (top) with its sister species the Viceroy (bottom). Both these butterflies in the "Admiral" group are mimics of other distasteful butterflies--the Red-spotted Purple mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail and the Viceroy mimics the Monarch. The Seven Sons attracts every migrating Monarch too: be sure and see this small tree in the Fragrant section of the Perennial Garden.

First cousin to the Seven Sons is the shrub Chinese Abelia (Abelia chinensis). Our shrubs are growing along the Dogwood Walk below the Visitor Center in mostly shade -- I suspect if they were in full sun they would attract lots of butterflies too. They flower for a long season in late summer into fall. If you don't have space for Seven Sons, you can plant this shrub instead (although it is very hard to find anymore).

The berries of the White Beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma 'Albofructis') are already ripening in the Perennial Garden. This is an neat shrub for a white garden or evening garden with fall interest. The berries will last for a couple months until severe cold change them to ivory-yellow.

Vibrant red berries can be seen on the Asian Linden Viburnum (Viburnum dilatatum). This is the wonderful cultivar 'Catskill,' which is nicely compact and fruiting well early. Linden Viburnum is a weed on the East Coast but we have never seen a seedling. It takes two varieties to set fruit: 'Asian Beauty' is another good one that holds its red berries well into winter. 'Cardinal Candy' and yellow-fruited 'Michael Dodge' are other cultivars to use as pollinators for best fruit set.

The Witherod Viburnum's (Viburnum nudum) fruit have reached the pink stage and are beginning the change over to blue. This is one bought as a pollinator for the 'Winterthur' cultivar in the Fountain Garden. The "pollinator" has a far better fruit display than 'Winterthur' (the cultivar that everyone sells around here). We bought our pollinator mail order from Fairweather Gardens because like most Viburnums, you get the best fruit set with multiple varieties around. Witherod Viburnum is native just south of Missouri and is a great shrub for wildlife and problematic wet sites: a good rain garden shrub!

The new cultivar 'Brandywine' (trademarked) has the most spectacular of any Witherod Viburnum for fruit with large clusters of fruit reminiscent of hydrangea flowers. Brandywine is also in the pink stage with more berries turning blue each day. Birds usually do not eat the berries until after they are all blue and shriveled by several freeze-thaw cycles. Look for Brandywine Viburnum near the trolley stop at the Perennial Garden.

Don't forget to pick shrubs and small trees not just for spring bloom but for fall flowers and fruits! These plants really enliven the landscape when it can look a bit tired. Powell Gardens' extensive collections of shrubs and trees are a must to peruse before you visit your favorite local nursery.

Mockoranges, Out of Fashion but not out of Style.

The pristine white flowers with a special, orange-blossom-like scent make the mockorange a staple of late spring flowers and fragrance in a garden. Mockoranges are currently out of fashion and much maligned by garden gurus but a season without them would be a miss!
Depicted are the flowers of the magnificent 'Snow Velvet' cultivar of the Western U.S. native mockorange (Philadelphus lewisii) "discovered" by Lewis & Clark.


Powell Gardens' Snow Velvet Mockorange can be seen below the wall south of the Cafe. It has the most showy blossoms of any of our mockoranges with a good scent too. It often has some repeat bloom through the summer.


We are lucky to display an heirloom Sweet Mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius) I obtained as a division from a shrub that is well more than 100 years old from a friend's farm near Decorah, Iowa. Sweet Mockorange was grown on many family farms across the Midwest and often persist near abandoned buildings to this day. They have the sweetest scent and bring back many fond memories. They also are a good nectar source for butterflies and insects.


The heirloom sweet mockorange is often blasted as a poor plant but this heirloom has full flowers of freshest fragrance. It makes a huge vase or fountain shaped shrub. Look for this plant south of the Visitor Center, another one is on the Island Garden.

We have other mockoranges on the grounds but none are as magnificent as these two. The cultivar 'Innocence' in the Perennial Garden's "white garden" may have the sweetest scent but is a weaker grower with marbled variegation to the leaves. The cultivar 'Belle Etoile' (on the upper edge of the Perennial Garden) is currently just budded and has purplish centers to richly fragrant blooms. There is one Missouri native species; just entering the state in its southwesternmost corner: the Downy Mockorange (Philadelphus pubescens). The Mockoranges are a taxonomist's nightmare and often defy identification to species with lots of regional variability. Who cares what they are called, enjoy their special fragrance and exquisite white flowers.

Roses, Our National Flower, Shine at Powell Gardens in 2008

The wonderfully moist and cooler-than-normal spring have allowed our roses to be more floriferous than ever! Powell Gardens may not have a rose garden but roses are used in the landscape throughout the grounds. We grow only disease-resistant, low maintenance varieties appropriate for each landscape setting. Enjoy the following sampling of Powell Gardens' roses:

The rugosa rose 'Frau Dagmar Hartopp' is a compact shrub rose with masses of single pink flowers. It is very disease resistant. Look for these masses on the meadow side of the east bridge of the Island Garden.


A closeup of 'Frau Dagmar Hartopp' rose reveals flowers reminiscent of pink dogwoods. They have a delightful rugosa rose scent and will continue to bloom (though more sparingly) until fall. The later season flowers produce fine red hips that are winter ornament or can be used for jelly and teas rich in vitamin C.


Our favorite red landscape rose is 'Champlain' a hybrid rose from the Morden Experiment Station in Manitoba. It is very disease resistant, a great red, and both heat and cold tolerant. This shot was taken in the courtyard on the north side of the Visitor Center. We also have Champlain rose near the Visitor Center trolley stop and on the Island Garden.


Another wonderful Morden rose is 'Morden Centennial' with excellent double pink blooms. Others in the series include 'Morden Blush' (blush pink), 'Morden Fireglow' (orange-red) and 'Winnipeg Parks' (bright pink) all of which are excellent in the Kansas City climate.


The late Dr. Buck from Iowa State University also has a series of hybrid roses that do wonderfully here. Our favorite is 'Distant Drums' with the unique lavender-mauve-honey blend of colors. We have used this rose extensively in the Fountain Garden where it currently is in full bloom (depicted).


A closeup of 'Distant Drums' roses.


The rose 'Carefree Sunshine' is a wonderful yellow and is really quite sincerely carefree! We used it near the Fountain Garden's centerpiece where we knew spray and mist would not mire its completely disease resistant foliage. It is a tall growing rose however and can be used as a climber.


The old fashioned climbing rose 'Zephirine Drouhin' is also in bloom and has thornless canes! Look for a pair of these climbers on the walls on either side of the entrance to the courtyard at the north end of the Visitor Center.

Powell Gardens has many landscape roses currently in bud and bloom and they all enrich the visitor experience. Thirty-five varieties will be planted in the Heartland Harvest Garden because roses are edible flowers and provide vitamin C rich fruit. They are good companions to grapes and always used in vineyards as the "canaries in the mineshaft" to make sure conditions are good for the grapes.
New hybrid roses continue to arrive on the market and many of the newbies are shockingly beautiful and amazingly disease resistant. The hybridizers are finally breeding some fragrance back into the flowers too!

Azaleas, America's Favorite Shrub

It's Azalea season again at Powell Gardens and they are currently in peak bloom. Azaleas are America's favorite shrub (because most consider roses "flowers"). This scene is from the Rock & Waterfall Garden with the native wildflower Golden Ragwort (Senecio aureus) in the foreground, a sprinkle of budding blue Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) then masses of pink and white Glenn Dale Azaleas.

Our masses of azaleas in the Rock & Waterfall Garden owe their existence to the generosity of Andy Klapis. Andy was a long-time Kansas City nurseryman and educator who now resides in Valparaiso, Indiana, to live near his son. He donated the original plants to the garden; many of the varieties are no longer commercially available but in many cases are far superior to what's on the market today. I called him on Tuesday to tell him how beautiful and inspiring his azaleas were in the garden. They are like a symphony of flowers to the eyes and nose. In his late eighties, Andy still knows more about azaleas than anyone in our region.

White Lights Azalea is one of those in bloom with exquisitely fragrant flowers that open soft pink and age to pure white. The "Lights" azaleas are Minnesota hybridized and are some of our toughest azaleas as most are at least half native azaleas. They are deciduous and have bloomed reliably every spring except last spring's Easter Freeze at Powell Gardens. They bloom the first week of May most years, a bit later like everything this year.


Rosy Lights Azalea is a deep rose pink and also has a very rich, sweet aroma. Missouri's only native azalea (which defies captivity) the Roseshell Azalea (Rhododendron prinophyllum) is half the parent of this hybrid.


Mandarin Lights Azalea has vivacious orange flowers without a scent. Most red azaleas are hummingbird pollinated so they attract pollinators by sight not smell. The American native Flame Azalea (R. calendulaceum) is part of this parent. Mandarin Lights is a good nectar plant for butterflies like the Giant Swallowtail.


Golden Lights Azalea is well named variety with a great scent too. Here it is growing in almost full sun on the north edge of the Rock & Waterfall Garden.


Golden Lights Azalea in the shade of the interior of the garden is less floriferous but just as beautiful and fragrant!


Lemon Lights Azalea on the north edge of the Rock & Waterfall Garden is a blaze in lemon yellow.

Candy Lights Azalea is one of the newer cultivars and is more compact and floriferous.

My Mary Azalea is a purely American hybrid azalea and found on the south edge of the Rock & Waterfall Garden. This variety is a Plant of Merit and a star performer in our heat and humidity. It has very fragrant flowers it gets from the Florida Flame Azalea (R. austrinum).

Nacoochee Princess Azalea is our most fragrant azalea at Powell Gardens. This American hybrid from Georgia has heat and humidity tolerance. I lured some grateful visitors over to smell it! It is next to My Mary south of the Rock & Waterfall Garden.

The Girard hybrid azaleas from northern Ohio are hybrids of evergreen Oriental azaleas and have good hardiness for our climate. They are the most readily available group of azaleas at local Garden Centers. This is Girard Crimson Azalea with velvety rose-crimson flowers.

Snow Azalea is aptly named and an older evergreen azalea hybrid. It is still occasionally available at local Garden Centers. Look for ours along the upper walkway of the Rock & Waterfall Garden.

This is one of the unknown Glenn Dale hybrid azaleas that Andy donated to us and the most beautiful of the pink-flowering, evergreen azaleas in our displays. We should propagate it for our plant sales!

This is our white unknown cultivar of Glenn Dale Azalea donated by Andy Klapis. It is by far the best of our white blooming, evergreen azaleas. Andy grew azaleas for many decades so knew what performed the best in Kansas City's rock'n and roll'n climate!

The Stewartstonian Azalea is still in bloom and I couldn't resist taking this photograph of a spring illuminated by a shaft of sunshine. It is a vivacious red azalea that is the most reliable red, evergreen cultivar for our region. These were donated by Andy but are still readily available at local Garden Centers.

Herbert Azalea is Andy's favorite and probably the hardiest of all the evergreen hybrid azaleas. It rarely (never?) fails to bloom (it even survived last Easter's freeze) with a pretty wild purplish flower color. Our big masses were donated by Andy and this cultivar is also still readily available at local Garden Centers.

I would hope this inspires you to consider planting some azaleas in your personal landscape. They require moist, well-drained soil in a woodland setting. Enrich your soil with peat moss or compost and use an acid based fertilizer for your plants. Water azaleas well to get them established but they can be quite drought tolerant once established. Unfortunately deer love azaleas as a salad bar so use Liquid Fence or Bobbex on azaleas if you have deer problems in your landscape. Azaleas simply are our most beautiful blooming shrubs of spring!