What's Blooming Now - May 23, 2012

Perennials Take Center Stage

Creating masses of blooms as the summer goes on is the goal of the Horticulture staff as we are busy planting hundreds of annual plants in the Zoo and White River Gardens. Perennial plants (those that return year after year) are still holding their own, however. Here are some of the beauties you can enjoy in the Gardens now.

Brassia, or Spider Orchid, one of many of the gorgeous tropicals in the Hilbert Conservatory.	As you exit there and go into the Ornamental Allee, Rosa ‘Scarlet meidiland’ is exploding with color.	The purple-red tones of Knautia macedonica can be spotted in the Polly H. Hix Design Gardens(that’s an airy plant with a rounded flower form).
‘Bold Pretender’ Iris	Allium ‘Forelock’
The 'Bold Pretender' Iris is a truly unique specimen you can see in the curved beds at the end of the Clowes Water Gardens along side the spitting frogs.	Allium 'Forelock' is another interesting flower that appears in the curved beds.	Asclepias tuberosa (butterflyweed) is just starting to reveal its vibrant orange blooms in the Virginia Fairbanks Sun Gardens and Hix Design Gardens.

You can find cranesbills (perennial Geranium species) and spiderworts (Tradescantia) in those spots, as well.	Clematises in reds and purples are blooming now in the Ornamental Allee and along the Ruth Lilly Shade Garden perimeter.	And cranesbills (perennial Geranium species) are blooming in masses, here and there, including a bunch surrounding one of our whimsical frog statues in the Sun Garden.