Plants In Bloom

In front of Prospect Hall, the first Daffodils {Narcissus ‘King Alfred’} of the spring have opened. This variety is ‘King Alfred’, registered in 1899 and the most popular of all yellow daffodils.

In the garden on Main St. at the north end of the Silver Center are many Glory of the Snow {Chionodoxa grandiflora} bulbs coming up and opening their blue spikes of flowers almost immediately. These are planted in several locations on campus and are increasing their numbers each year.

Under the ‘Varied Directions’ European Larch {Larix decidua ‘Varied Directions’} on the south side of Ellen Reed are a few Winter Aconite {Eranthis hyemalis} flowers poking through the Sedum groundcover.  The very bright yellow flowers will be followed by attractive finely cut foliage.

In front of the southeast corner of Holmes House are many Common Snowdrops {Galanthus nivalis} opening as the snow melts.  They have white nodding flowers above slender green foliage.  This planting has increased its numbers in this bed and continues to spread each year.  In front of Prospect Hall are two more species of Crocus: Scotch Crocus {C.biflorus} with purple flowers and Jeanne d’Arc Crocus {C. Jeanne d’Arc} with white flowers in large groups that also have increased in numbers as the years pass.

On the east and south sides of Ellen Reed Hall are four Vernal Witchhazels that have come into bloom.  They have flowers with strap like petals similar to the native Common Witchhazel {H. virginiana} that blooms in the late fall.  The very large multi-stem shrub in front of Ellen Reed with fragrant reddish flowers is an unnamed Vernal Witchhazel seedling.  The yellow flowered plant on the east side is a hybrid of the Chinese and Japanese species of Witchazel {Hamamelis x intermedia}.

Welcome to the 16th edition of Plants in Bloom, Plymouth State University’s pictorial calendar of flowering landscape plants.  In front of Prospect Hall is our first group of Yellow Mammoth’ Crocus {C. flavus ‘Yellow mammoth’} to open as the snow recedes from the south side of the foundation.

Behind the President’s residence is an Eastern Wahoo {Euonymus atropurpureus} with a large amount of red fruit with bright pink husks. It makes an incredibly colorful display. This plant has seeded itself in numerous places and is easily found in Langdon Park.

In front of Prospect Hall is a ‘Winter King’ Hawthorn {Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’} that has dropped its leaves to showcase its great profusion of orange-red fruit. This is a great selection with flowers, fruit and horizontal branching that is very attractive. Outside the silo at Hyde Hall is a Japanese Maple {Acer palmatum ‘Oshi-Beni’} whose leaves have turned a very bright red. This tree has dark red foliage throughout the growing season and its fall foliage is a much brighter and lighter shade of red.

Along the front of D&M Hall are three plants showing off some great attributes this late in our fall season. Just south of the entrance on Main St is a beautiful ‘Erie’ Viburnum {V. dilatatum ‘Erie’} with lustrous fall colors in many shades ranging from red to deep mahogany at the rear of the plant. Just to its left are several ‘Brilliant’ Red Chokeberries {Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’} that have bright red foliage as well as bright red fruit clusters. The leaves will drop soon but the fruit will hang into early winter. To the north of the Main Street entrance are several large Common Witchhazels {Hamamelis virginiana} in full bloom with yellow flowers that have strap like petals. The foliage is also an attractive shade of yellow and as the leaves drop the flowers become more pronounced. The flowers usually last into the beginning of December.

In front of the Russell House are two beds of ‘Brouer’s Beauty’ Pieris {P.x ‘Brouwer’s Beauty’} whose exposed flower buds have turned a dark red. These buds will open in late April and remain very attractive throughout our winter. I consider this to be our most ornamental shrub for the late fall and winter seasons. On the east side of the Russell House is a ‘Shasta’ Viburnum {V. plicatum tomentosum ‘Shasta’} with wine red foliage. This is one of the newer selections from the National Arboretum that performs very well here. Along the stone wall on the east side of Belknap Hall is a Dwarf Fothergilla {F.gardenii} that has outstanding reddish orange foliage, just beautiful.