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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Maryland Blooms in December



Blue Heaven Sorbet Violas
    

This late fall and early winter have been warmer than usual, without any of the extreme cold snaps that usually discourage or eliminate flowering on almost all plants.  To be fair, many plants were not blooming; however, there were a larger than normal number of plants that were still blooming on Monday, December 5, 2011 when that these pictures were taken.

Violas and Pansies are known for blooming well in cool weather; however, they are in the minority of plants that are usually still blooming on December 5 in our area.  Some years, even Violas and Pansies are looking pretty sorry by this late date.

We decided to try some of the Sorbet series of Violas this year as last fall, winter and spring, I drove by a planting of the Sorbet Violas that seemed to look better than any of the Pansies that we had planted on campus.  Hopefully, my observations won't prove to be a case of the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.  So far, the Blue Heaven Sorbet Viola and Yellow Delight Viola are performing admirably near the Clock Tower by Van Munching Hall.  While I am not fond of the screaming yellow, visible from the space shuttle, color of the Yellow Delight Sorbet Viola, I am a big fan of its wonderfully sweet fragrance on warm afternoons.  The Blue Heaven does not seem to be fragrant.



Yellow Delight Sorbet Viola
 
Holly Osmanthus

Some of the Holly Osmanthus were still blooming on Monday, however, I did not detect any of the strong fragrance that is usually associated with their tiny blossoms.



'Otto Luyken' Cherry Laurel
 



Knock Out Roses and Sorbet Plum Velvet Violas
   
Knock Out Rose

 

Pink Double Knock Out Rose
 


White Out Rose
 


White Out Roses and Pampas Grass

The Knock Out hardy shrub rose series and other hardy shrub roses bred by rose breeder Bill Radler have performed very well for us in College Park, MD.  In most of the locations on campus where we have these hardy shrub roses planted, we cut them back every year because of height concerns.  However, if you plan ahead and site them properly, you do not need to cut them back every year and can let them get quite large.  Most of Bill's roses have proven to be far more disease resistant than other shrub roses that have been given a lot of press as being disease resistant. 



Unknown Camellia Cultivar

'Winter's Snowman' Camellia

'Winter's Snowman' Camellia

'Winter's Snowman' Camellia (Camellia x 'Winter's Snowman') is from the Ice Angels series of Camellias. It is a complex hybrid cross made by Dr. William Ackerman of the National Arboretum in Washington, DC that was bred and selected for cold hardiness. Some refer to 'Winter's Snowman' Camellia as the "Telephone Pole" Camellia because of it's narrow habit. This fall blooming Camellia usually starts blooming for us around October 29.



'Six Hills Giant' Catnip


'Dropmore Scarlet' Honeysuckle

Glossy Abelia


Leadwort or Plumbago


Sam Bahr, author and photographer


2 comments:

  1. LOVE the colors of the Leadwort!! Will it grow in KS? Would love to place some of this beautiful plant here to enjoy! Thanks Sam for the color tour of campus!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Debi, the leadwort should grow well for you in Kansas if your provide the proper growing conditions in order for it to survive. It may need mulching over winter in order for it to survive in the northern part of your state. The Missouri Botanical garden has an excellent article on leadwort. Use the MBG Kemper Center Plant Finder link on the right side of our blog to find out more information about it. In addition to good drainage, I think that it will do much better in an area where that the soil has been prepared so that it is no longer compacted. While full sun may be great for leadwort in most of the country, in your part of the country where some years the summer temperature are over 100 degrees day after day, it will probably do better if on a steep east facing or north facing slope with no additional shade or where that it has full sun until around 2-3 pm with light shade after that.

    ReplyDelete

Contact Information for the University of Maryland Arboretum and Botanical Garden

Mailing and Shipping address (This is the location of our partner, UMD Landscape Services, and the office of our Assistant Director, Karen Petroff):
University of Maryland
Wye Oak Building (428)
4201 Landscape Ln.
College Park, MD 20742-7215
phone: 301-405-3320
fax: 301-314-9943
hours: 6 am to 2:30 pm, M-F

Horticulturist's Offices and Meeting Room (No mail delivery or shipping to this location):
University of Maryland
Arboretum Outreach Center (156)
3931 Stadium Dr.
College Park, MD 20742
phone: 301-405-3320
fax: 301-314-9943
hours: 7 am to 3:30 pm, M-F, by appointment or prescheduled times only, as sometimes everyone is out on campus and the building will be locked

When using the UMD Campus Map, you can click on a building name and the street address of that building and other information about that building should come up in a pop up window.

blog administrator, Sam Bahr, 301-405-7926 or 301-405-3320
e-mail: sbahr@umd.edu

updated 1/30/20

Parking

Our gardens are free and open to the public. There are some parking lots (read the signs for that parking lot carefully) that are free to park in after 4 pm and before 7 am and on weekends, except on game days and during other special events. There is public parking in four large parking garages at the rate of $3 per hour with a daily maximum of $15. On weekends in the garages, the rate is $3 per hour with a daily maximum rate of $5 per hour. There is a small amount of additional pay parking along some streets.

Navigation around campus is much easier with this interactive campus map. You can look up parking locations and building locations using this map. Use the search tab to bring up the page to search for campus building names, locations and addresses. If you click on a building name on this interactive campus map, a popup window should appear with the address and other details about the building.

updated 10/6/2015


Butterfly feeding on the nectar of Russian Sage blossoms

General Information about the UMD Arboretum and Botanical Garden

The University of Maryland, the state’s flagship campus, is located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The American Association of Public Gardens, by designating the university as an arboretum and botanical garden in 2008, recognized former President C.D. Mote, Jr.’s commitment to becoming a green campus. Maryland is also the first university in the state to be honored as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

The Arboretum and Botanical Garden consists of our entire 1,250 acre College Park, Maryland campus. The Campus collection of over 8,000 trees, garden plantings and nearly 400 acres of undeveloped urban forest is a beautiful reminder of Maryland’s history and a harbinger of Maryland’s future. The university looks at the campus’ green space as a major resource for its educational, research and service missions.

Hornbake Plaza

Hornbake Plaza
Honeylocust fall foliage color

University of Maryland Arboretum Explorer or UMD ABG Explorer (Tree and Shrub Inventory)

You can look up the identity of many trees and shrubs using this interactive campus map: https://maps.umd.edu/abg/. Herbaceous plants and even some small woody plants are not a part of this inventory. It is still a work in progress and we do not consider it a complete or entirely up to date inventory.

Our plant inventory or plant collections database can also be considered a plant database, plant search, plant locator, plant finder, plant collection database, living collections management system, plant records system or plant mapping system for campus plantings.

updated 1/30/20

Image and Link to the Interactive Campus Map Showing the Campus Plant Inventory

Tawes Plaza Gardens

Tawes Plaza Gardens
Kim's Knee High Purple Coneflower, Russian Sage, White Out Rose and Dwarf Pampas Grass are featured in this planting in 2010.