An unapologetic plant geek shares advice and opinions on gardening, the contrived and the natural landscape, as well as occasional topics from the other side of the gate.

March 29, 2008

Norfolk Botanical Gardens - Early Spring 08

The temperatures today never made it out of the 40's, and it was overcast and very windy -- not a good day for people running a garden center. However, yesterday it got over 80 and it was sunny and warm, and fortunately I had the day off and opted to see the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. I rarely get to see the gardens in spring, so this was a real treat.

The Narcissus were mostly finished except for a few varieties near the administration building.

It is still in the early stages of the Azalea season, but there were several varieties opening at the gardens. Azaleas are the signature plant of the gardens and were indeed the first shrubs planted in the 1930's by a hard working corp of African American women as part of a WPA program.



There were a few perennials blooming including Creeping Phlox,
Epimedium,
and Pulmonaria 'Trevi Fountains'.
The Crabapples were also in full bloom.



I thought that the most spectacular trees were the Yoshino Cherries. I am not huge fan of ornamental cherries, but when they are at their peak, their beauty can not be denied.




There were lots of other things blooming yesterday, and I think I spent as much time looking at the camera screen, as I did looking at plants. I will try to share more of these as time permits.

4 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I can't get enough of azaleas and cherry blooms at the moment.

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  2. You did a great job capturing your excitement. It takes my breathe away. I love the Yoshino too. I put two in my new yards. My son lives in Harrisonburg,VA and he said yesterday as he drove home to see us----the trees got prettier and prettier as he went further south. It's still been a bit too cold up his way.

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  3. Bek - Guten Tag, thanks for posting a comment. Here in Norfolk we are about to be over run with Azaleas. I'll try to take some photos.

    Anna - Glad that you have a Virginia connection. It is very nice up there. I hope you can find time in your very busy schedule to visit in the fall, it is especially nice there then.

    Les

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  4. Here is a pictorial tour of the DC area.

    Azaleas

    Click next to go to the next iamge.
    Click index for the list of images.

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