Did this week feel a little more like summer than spring to you? Did you enjoy the sunshine this week? Let’s take a look at what’s poppin’!

Holden Arboretum

Right now, the Arboretum is ablaze with lilacs and azaleas. Just in time for Mother’s Day, the Display Garden adjacent to the south side of our main parking area, is looking spectacular. The lilacs are full of blooms this year, and all our cultivars are at absolute peak bloom. Dozens of different lilacs await, and once again, don’t be afraid to stop and smell them – it’s part of the experience that shouldn’t be missed.

Azaleas are also stealing the show. Look for the Korean azalea (Rhododendron yedoense ‘Pink Discovery’) in the Rhododendron Discovery Garden. Travel to the Layer Rhododendron Garden to see the beautiful pinkshell azalea (Rhododendron vaseyi), a native of the southern Appalachians. And while you’re there look for the dwarf crested iris nativar Iris cristata ‘Power Blue Giant’ on the west side of the same garden.

Finally, in the wildflower garden, spot the Ohio native roseshell rhododendron, (Rhododendron prinophyllym) on top of the sandstone rockery, and in the limestone rockery, look for the beautiful shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia), a wildflower that grows in the sweet soils of southwest Ohio. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see this uncommon bloomer to those of us who mostly botanize northeast Ohio.

Cleveland Botanical Garden

The story at the Garden is that our beautiful peonies have opened up. It’s the first time of the season that we’ve talked about this group of plants. The tree peonies (Paeonia x suffruticosa) have perennial, woody stems. Visit the entrance to the Western Reserve Herb Society Garden to find a white tree peony, and then move to the restorative garden to spot a beautiful deep magenta flowering tree peony.

Between the two, in the rose garden, you’ll see the beautiful white flowers of Rhododendron ‘Desire’, an azalea. Walk down the stairs to the Woodland Garden to spot Halesia tetraptera, the Carolina silverbell, a southeastern native shrub that has white, downward facing bell-shaped flowers. For another bit of white, look down at the forest floor to find the mayapples in full bloom. Finally, as you’re walking to the Waterfall Garden, you’ll see a red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) blooming between the path and East Boulevard. This beautiful tree is native to the southeast and south-central United States.

While we’re still waiting for the large leaved rhododendrons to bloom in earnest, azaleas, lilacs and peonies all make for wonderful opportunities to take in the floral wonder that abounds at both of our campuses. It’s poppin’!