Flowers are beginning to bloom!

Well, it’s hard to believe in three weeks' time we went from a beautiful late snowfall to flowers everywhere! All of the pansies from last fall’s plantings have rebounded nicely and are beginning to showcase that early spring color, along with the thousands of crocus and daffodils that were planted in the winter. All of this color and just in time for our first Behind the Scenes open house of the year!

With most of the planning and ordering of plant material behind us, spring is obviously an exciting time of year for the Grounds Crew---we are ready to get dirty! Several tree deliveries have arrived and with help from volunteers, like Ben and Joey, we are able to unload quickly and prepare for planting. It’s been such a long winter for Josh that he got carried away on his first hole!

Our initial plantings this year will be concentrated in the bog garden area. The garden area surrounding the bog is about an acre-and-a-half in size, so it is important to get the trees in correct scale for the size of the garden. We started with some large river birch (Betula nigra) that are planted along a dry creek bed which feeds into the bog. We also planted some large weeping needle juniper (Juniperus rigida pendula), which have a great appearance in this type of setting. To close in the space and make it feel more like a room, we surrounded the garden with large doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum tomentosum). The thousands of perennials, bog plants, and carnivorous plants that make up the rest of the garden will arrive the first week of May.

Our second large delivery of trees is expected next week and consists of magnolias, several types of cherries, dawn redwoods, bald cypress, redbud and golden ash.

With the majority of work last year on landscape, we are really looking forward to planting some incredible gardens for all to enjoy and learn!

Thanks again for joining us. We appreciate all of your prayers and support for the museum.