It’s Poppin’: April 10

April 10, 2025

We had some very cold temperatures this week, and while those put a damper on some of our early blooming trees, including our earliest blooming magnolias, there are still many blooms at peak, and if you like hellebores and daffodils, they’re still looking fantastic at both campuses.

At the garden, assistant curator Alex Faidiga spotted one of my early spring bloomers is out now- the flowering quince Chaenomeles x superba ‘Crimson and Gold’

She also photographed the flowering cherry Prunus First Blush®.

And if you still like Daffoldils, they are blooming. The tulips will come as it warms up in the next weeks. Narcissus ‘Brackenhurst’ has a beautiful orange center surrounded by yellow.

At the Arboretum, the earliest magnolias were frosted by our sub-30 degree temperatures earlier in the week. However, the beatufiul magnolia, Magnolia amoena, is blooming just behind the Hugelkultur Mound. It’s smaller pink and white flowers tolerated the frosts, while last week’s stunner, Magnolia x loebneri, was hit hard.

In the wildflower garden, early buttercup, Ranunculus fascicularis, home in the sweet soils of central and western Ohio, is now at peak bloom in the limestone rockery.

And to my surprise, I even spotted an extremely early Lakeside daisy that had made it’s way up amongst the limestone boulders.

When will it warm up and the sun return? Let’s hope it will be soon, as the flowers are just waiting to pop!

Tom Arbour, M.En.

Curator of Living Collections

As Curator of Living Collections at Holden Forests and Gardens, Tom guides the acquisition and documentation of more than 20,000 plants and trees at Cleveland Botanical Garden and The Holden Arboretum. Significant arboretum collections include oak, crabapple, maple, conifers, and Ohio wildflowers. At the Cleveland Botanical Garden, two biome-based glasshouses contain plants of the Madagascar spiny forest and a rich neotropical rainforest community. Tom is particularly interested in connecting with those wanting to use Holden’s living collections for research. Please contact Tom to learn more about the broad collection of trees and plants at our two campuses.

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