May 29

In the Arrival Trellis:

Clematis Josephine (Cultivar of Clematis); this Chelsea award winner has doubly creamy green to pinkish mauve flowers with darker striping - a real show stopper!

In the Knot Garden:

Iris germanica 'Immortality' (Bearded Iris); this rebloomer has pure white flowers with a lemon yellow beard, flowering twice a year, early summer and again in late summer/early fall

In the Knot Garden:

Allium karataviense 'Ivory Queen' (Turkestan Onion); a lovely white form of the popular species, having dense ivory white flowers on ten-inch stems

In the Arrival Trellis:

Clematis 'Hyde Hall' (Cultivar of Clematis); a Raymond Evison selection with flowers five to seven inches across of white with a tinge of pink

In the Arrival Courtyard:

Gillenia trifoliata (Bowman's Root); a personal favourite of TBG head gardener Sandra Pella, this underused native wildflower was traditionally used for medicinal purposes but it adds form and flower to any perennial border - another real show stopper!

In the Entry Garden:

Paeonia lactiflora 'Bowl of Beauty' (Peony); a classic peony with very large pink-tinted flowers with creamy white, ruffled centres

In the Entry Garden:

Allium christophii (Star of Persia); a very showy allium with a large flower umbrel made up of up to 100 reddish-purple, star-shaped flowers

May 11- 18

In the Nature Garden:

Camassia leichtlinii (Quamash) ; growing two to four feet, including the flower spike, quamash is native to North America with a pyramidal raceme of bright star flowers atop a stem rising above a grassy clump

In the Show Garden:

Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea 'Royal Cloak' (Japanese Barberry); rich colourful foliage on this shrub is hard to miss - the leaves on this selection are larger, rounder, and a deeper purple than those of other barberries.

In the Knot Garden:

Tulipa 'White Elegance' (Lily Flowering Tulip) with Fagus sylvatica forma purpurea 'Cuprea' (Purple Beech) in the background; an elegant ivory tulip flowering in mid-season, good for cutting

In the Garden Hall Courtyard:

Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Crimson Queen' (Japanese Maple) with Tulipa 'Queen of Night' and Tulipa 'Annie Schilder'; Japanese maples are exhibiting extremely rich colour this season, here A. 'Crimson Queen', a popular old cultivar hardy to zone 5

In the West View Terrace:

Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie' (Daphne); extremely fragrant shrub bearing small pink flowers completely covering the plant for approximately two to three weeks. It prefers acidic soil and shade from hot sun

In the Arrival Courtyard:

Wisteria floribunda 'Issai' (Japanese Wisteria); Japanese Wisteria is a hardy, rampant, deciduous vine; the cultivar Issai has relatively short clusters of fragrant lilac-blue pea-flowers and is an extremely vigorous twiner, quickly engulfing the structure it grows up




In the Entry Garden:

Amsonia tabernaemontana var. salicifolia (Blue Star); a native perennial to Eastern North America, deservedly becoming more popular in gardens as is exceptionally long-lived, bearing clusters of light blue starry flowers

In the Entry Garden:

Allium 'Gladiator' (Ornamental Onion); a very stately Allium with six inch globes of violet blue for early - especially early this seaon - summer

May 6-12

In the Garden Hall Courtyard you will find:
Gentiana cachemirica (Himalayan Gentian); often misidentified and hard to find, this electric blue gentian is also suitable for rock gardens, normally flowering in late summer.





In the Water Garden - North:
Tulipa 'West Point' (Lily-flowered tulip): this lily-flowered tulip has eye-catching yellow pointed petals.




In the Water Garden-West
Tulipa 'Ballerina' (Tulip): this late spring flowering selection has point-tipped petals of red and yellow on the outside and red within.






In the Knot Garden:
Narcissus 'Thalia' (Daffodil/Orchid Narcissus): this fragrant pure-white daffodil has multiple, pendulous flowers on each stem and is shown here with an assortment of tulips.




In the Water Garden North
Tulipa 'Princess Irene' (Tulip); this tulip is very weather and wind resistant and is one of the early spring season flowering tulips.




In the Garden Hall Courtyard:
Frittilaria imperialis 'Lutea Maxima' (Crown Imperial Lily): these bulbs produce up to six bell-shaped yellow flowers hanging below a topknot of leaves which are held on a single stem.





In the Garden Hall Courtyard
Tulipa orphanidea 'Whittallii Group' (Tulip): this species tulip has burnt-orange flowers that are stained brown at the centre, usually flowering mid to late spring.




In the Kitchen Garden-Fence:

Clematis 'Guernsey Cream' (Guernsey Cream Clematis): this vine boasts large creamy flowers from mid-May to July and again in late August.





In the Garden Hall Courtyard:

Trollius x cultorum 'Orange Princess' (Globe Flower): this pernnial prefers rich, moist, almost-boggy soil in full to partial sun. Flowering in late spring/early summer, this selection has large double golden-orange flowers.



In the Garden Hall Courtyard:

Frittilaria imperialis 'William Rex' (Crown Imperial Lily): another selection of Crown Imperial Frittilaria, this one with dark bronze-red flowers

April 26-May 3

In this magnificent spring season, new flowers are constantly coming into bloom at the TBG! Visit often to catch the changing face of the gardens.

In the Garden Hall Courtyard you will find:
Rhododendrum dauricum 'Arctic Pearl' (Rhododendron). This cultivar features particularly exceptional hardiness for cold and its white blossoms flower earlier than most rhododendrons in spring.

In the Demonstration Courtyard:

Narcissus 'Ice Follies' (Large-cupped Daffodil); Large-cupped daffodils produce one flower per stem and this variety is one of the most reliable bloomers with clumps multiplying and spreading readily over time.

In the Demonstration Courtyard and Entry Garden:

Narcissus triandrus 'Thalia' (Daffodil, Orchid Narcissus). Each stem bears two to three fragrant snow-white flowers. Thalia is the oldest known hybrid derived from the N. triandus species, dating from 1610.

In the Demonstration Courtyard:

Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant' (Summer Snowflake). A Europeann genus with species commonly known as snowflakes and often regarded as a poor relative to the Galanthus. Despite its common name, Summer Snowflake blooms in spring.





In the Garden Hall Courtyard -Waterfall

Brunnera macrophylia 'Jack Frost' (Siberian Bugloss) with Brunnera 'King's Ransom' behind. Brunneras have heart-shaped leaves. Jack Frost's are silver with mint-green veins, while B. 'King's Ransom's are a rich silver and gold.

In the Show Garden:

Magnolia 'Elizabeth' (Magnolia); this fast growing, yellow-flowered hybrid has scented flowers and a distinctly upright oval habit, making it quite exceptional!

In the Garden Hall Courtyard:
Tulipa greigii 'Fringed Red Riding Hood' (Tulip);this Greigii hybrid features red-fringed flowers on stunning purple-streaked leaves.

In the Garden Hall Courtyard:

Tulipa 'Jaap Groot' ('The Perennial Tulip'); white-trimmed foliage, flowers of soft, creamy-white punctuated with a yellow frame - these giants are known for their exceptional perennial quality to bloom reliably year after year.

In the Garden Hall Courtyard above the waterfall:

Cercis canadensis (Weeping Eastern Redbud) - a small weeping cultivar known for the absence of an upright leader, thus limiting the height it reaches to about five feet

April 12 -19

Spring is in full bloom at the TBG this week!

In the Water Garden - North you will find:
Magnolia x loebneri 'Merrill' (Loebner Magnolia); a small tree grown for its profusion of fragrant white star-shaped blooms on bare wood

In the West Lawn Garden:
Tulipa praestans 'Unicum' (Tulip); this bunch tulip will perennialze as it is a species tulip; having mutiple orange-red flowers above cream edged foliage

In the Show Garden:

Narcissus cyclaminnnnneus 'Jetfire' (Daffodil) ; this smaller variety of Narcissus has yellow reflexed petals with bright orange trumpets




In the Garden Hall Courtyard:

Tulipa kaufmanniana 'Hearts Delight' (Waterlily Tulip); this Waterlily type is so named since on very sunny days the petals will open fully to a star shape




In the West View Terrace Garden:

Magnolia x loebneri 'Leonard Messel' (Loebner Magnolia); this rounded, small tree has star-shaped flowers with 12 white petals on the inside, pinkish-purple on the outside

In the Garden Hall Courtyard:

Tulipa kaufmanniana 'Goudstuk' (Waterlily Tulip); another Waterlily Tulip with bright yellow petals, having red striping on every second outer petal; very early flowering




In the Trellis Garden:

Narcissus 'Flyer' (Split-Corona Daffodil) ; the crown of 'Flyer' is amassed with tightly packed frilled petals of egg-yolk yellow; a vigorous and long-lived large flowering daffodil

April 1 - 8

In the Garden Hall Courtyard you will find:
Iris reticulata 'Natascha' (Dwarf Wild Iris); shows unusual colouration with palest of blue flowers, with green veins and a golden blotch

In the Garden Hall Courtyard:

Galanthus nivalis forma pleniflorus 'Flore Pleno' (Snowdrop); this double-flowered form of the common snowdrop spreads easily

In the Garden Hall Courtyard:

Erica carnea 'March Seedling' (Spring Heath); one of the hardiest of the heaths, this later flowering carnea has masses of pale heliotrope flowers

In the Waterfall Garden:

Crocus vernus 'Grand Maitre' (Giant Crocus); this giant crocus, a late-spring flowering Dutch hybrid, reaches 6 inches in height, with dark blue flowers

Iin the West View Terrace Garden:

Crocus chrysanthus 'Cream Beauty' (Crocus); smaller than average, this cultivar was introduced in 1943 from the Netherlands; it bunch flowers with more than one flower coming from a single corm

In the Garden Hall Courtyard Demonstration Garden:

Iris reticulata (Dwarf Wild Iris); blooms late winter early spring in shades of blue and purple

March 25 - April 1

In the Westview Terrace Garden you will find:
Helleborus niger 'Praecox' (Christmas Rose), the best-known species of Hellebore; this cultivar has white cup-shaped flowers which appear notably earlier than others




In the Water Fall Garden:
Eranthis hyemalis Cilicia Group (Winter Aconite); belonging to the buttercup family, a small plant with large yellow cup-shaped flowers - all parts are poisonous

In the Great Hall Courtyard:

Galanthus elwesii (Snowdrop) with Erica carnea 'Myretoun Ruby' (Winter Heath): giant-flowered snowdrop with honey-scented blooms with two green marks on the petals, here accompanied by one of the earliest flowering heathers in late winter, very hardy happiest in acid soil but will adapt to mildly alkaline conditions




In the Entry Garden:

Helleborus x hybridus 'Blue Lady' (Lenten Rose); prune out the old foliage now so as to see the cup-shaped plum purple nodding flowers, leathery evergreen leaves to follow

In the Arrival Courtyard:

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Primavera' ' (Witch Hazel): spectacular winter-flowering deciduous shrub or small tree; this cultivar blooms later than most with a sweet fragrance