Daffodils and Magnolias

The Daffodils a.k.a. Narcissus are blooming in colorful drifts of cream to yellow and orange throughout Powell Gardens. If you have not been to Powell Gardens in a while we have planted more than 100,000 more bulbs in the past couple seasons. The early magnolias are also in full bloom -- foliated in fragrant flowers of blush pink and white.

Larkwhistle Daffodil is a Cyclamineus Narcissus that has naturalized well over the past seven years on the Island Garden (in front of the arbor).

Here a drift of Tete-a-tete and a few Jetfire Narcissus contrast with blue-flowering Siberian Squills (Scilla sibirica) in the Rock & Waterfall Garden.

Star Magnolia's (Magnolia stellata) elegant and fragrant white flowers have really shone this spring. They have attracted more insects than usual because they are blooming nearly a month behind schedule. Painted Lady and Question Mark butterflies as well as myriads of honeybees have been visiting their blossoms.

A Star Magnolia is foliated in flowers with no leaves to take away from their exuberance. They leaf out after flowering.

A honeybee visits the bloom of Leonard Messel Magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri 'Leonard Messel'). Leonard Messel has turned out to be one of the hardiest of all spring blooming "precocious" magnolias. It was a chance seedling in an English Garden and originally thought to be hardy only to zone7. Luckily gardeners are always trying plants to test their limits and we now know this hybrid is hardy through zone 4 and one of the best for the Minneapolis-St.Paul region. It does great in Greater Kansas City too, having blooms that are tolerant of some frost.

All photographs taken by Alan Branhagen at Powell Gardens on April 7, 2008.

Chapungu: Sculpture in the Garden

Powell Gardens' CHAPUNGU, Nature, Man & Myth sculptures are carefully being placed in the garden. This display of art in the garden is scheduled to open on May 10 but to place more than 50 sculptures weighing a ton or more each takes time. A visit now will give you a preview of what is to come but the viewing the display in its entirety with proper interpretation will provide the best experience.

Troy Young in our maintenance department uses our backhoe to pull the sculpture from its crate and transfer it to a garden vehicle. The sculpture is "Horse" by Ephraim Chaurika, made of serpentine and weights 1,600 lbs. The artist stated "When I saw a horse for the first time, it took my breath away. So strong and proud and yet so beautiful. I will always try to capture that in the stone."

Here Troy gently lowers "Horse" to a garden truckster.

The final destination is reached by a Bobcat where Powell Gardens' maintenance staff and Chapungu curatorial staff make the final placement. Note the sheets of plywood laid down to not disturb the ground or brick paths. You will find "Horse" in the Perennial Garden.

The sculptures are arranged in a story of themes and Nature can be observed in the Perennial Garden. This sculpture is "Wild Horses" by Fungayi Mwarowa.

Look for "Myth" sculptures on the Island Garden to the Rock & Waterfall Garden. "The Mudzimu Bull" sculpture by Joseph Ndandarika is made of serpentine and can be seen on the Island Garden. "The sekuru (respected elder) has died. We pass his spirit into a young bull. After two years the bull will be killed and the spirit is released to the ancestors."

"Man" themed sculptures are in the landscape between the visitor center and the lake. "Chief's Advisor" by Joe Mutasa is made of lepidolite. "The advisor presents a balanced picture so that chief can make a fair assessment."

The most moving of the sculptures is "Melancholy Girl" of opal by Tapfuma Gutsa. This front on shot startled me and I can't explain the beam of distorted light off the sculpture's head. Tapfuma states: "As a child I was so happy and so carefree. Now I am saddened by my life and our family circumstances."

We are so blessed in this country I cannot imagine a life in such a country of turmoil like Zimbabwe.

The sculptures are very beautiful and masterful. They tell a universal story of the human experience, very moving if you take the time to carefully observe their nuances and read the artist's story.

All photographs taken by Alan Branhagen on April 8, 2008 at Powell Gardens.

Butterfly Season Begins

Saturday was the beginning of butterfly season. I always count on the first butterflies to emerge or arrive with the opening of the first insect pollinated wild plants. That first flower the butterflies imbibe nectar from and help pollinate is the Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica). A quick hike on the Powell Gardens - Byron Shutz Nature Trail to the "hilltopping" ridge revealed nine species of butterflies on Saturday.

The first butterfly of the season this year was the Goatweed Leafwing. I saw about half a dozen of these brilliant orange butterflies on Saturday on the trail. They overwinter as adult butterflies so often emerge on warm winter days. You can see them regularly now that they have fully emerged from hibernating. This picture was taken by Betsy Betros and is of a female butterfly (the male is more evenly orange that seems to glow in the spring sunshine). Betsy is writing a new book about butterflies of the Kansas City Region that will have its preview at the opening of our butterfly garden on May 31 and be published by our Festival of Butterflies in August.


Red Admirals made their appearance on Saturday. It is interesting to me that we do not know for sure whether the first butterflies seen are ones that emerged from hibernation or immigrants from farther south. I saw three, two of which were definitely worn from a long flight or a long winter!

Saturday's butterfly list included:
Cabbage White
Spring Azure
Goatweed Leafwing
Eastern Comma
Gray Comma
Question Mark
Mourning Cloak
Red Admiral
Painted Lady

When the wild plum blooms, we can have nearly two dozen species of butterflies out on the nature trail. Part of the trail follows the highest ridge around and this is why it is such a special place to observe butterflies. Butterflies "hilltop" -- that is they go to the highest point around to find a mate. You can see inordinate congregations of butterflies perusing our trail for this reason as well as for its good habitat and plethora of early spring flowers from shrubby wild plum and fragrant sumac to herbaceous biscuit root and prairie-plum.