Continuing the Plant Highlights in April

• Adjacent to the lilacs are our historic iris collection. Many are flowering or coming into flower.
• Camellias throughout the garden are still quite stunning. The Japonicas are blooming throughout the garden, and many of the Reticulatas are in flower. The new planting of seven different pink daffodils is coming into full bloom near the Visitor’s Center. The varieties are: ‘Accent’, ‘British Gamble’, ‘Chromacolor’, ‘Pink Charm’, ‘Pink Chimes’, and ‘Salome’.
• The first of the tree peonies are beginning to bloom, and will continue to get better the next few weeks.
• There are many spring trees, shrubs and perennials blooming around the garden. Some of these include forsythia, the yellow ‘Elizabeth’ magnolia in the south east corner of the Walled Garden, and the ‘Ward’s Ruby’ azalea near the Hinoki false cypress.
• Some of the last magnolias are blooming, including the late saucer magnolia (M. x soulangeana ‘Rustic Rubra’) at the Wedding Place and Magnolia liliiflora near the Panel Garden hydrangea bed.
• The Camperdown Elm with its gnarled branches, bare to the world, is a spectacular sight to behold. The past week’s rain has caused an explosion of the green moss on the branches. Also, the buds are starting to break, so the chartreus seed heads should begin appearing in mid-April.
• Filoli has one of the largest collections of ivy in the world. In the tradition of many historic English gardens, ivy was a component chosen for the walls in many places, particularly along the Bowling Green. In the late 90s, Filoli received an enormous collection from Dr. Cliff Coon, an avid ivy collector and breeder. Many of the varieties are represented on the fence line that wraps around the south and west side of the garden. In addition, a collection of adult ivies, which are more shrub like in form, grows to the west of the High Place. This peaceful corner of the garden is a lovely spot to sit and read a book.