The ‘Empress’ is a hybrid tropical day-blooming water lily, in a color not found in winter-hardy water lilies. The flowers of tropical water lilies tend to stand up above the water’s surface. Hardy lily flowers rest at water level.

Lots of flowers have “lily” added to the name: lily-of-the-valley, waterlily, daylily, calla lily, to name a few. It’s understandable – the lily is an archetypal flower, equal to the rose in history and symbolism, with thousands of years of reverence attached to it. Those other “lilies” have plenty of charm, but none of them have the sheer presence of the true lily.

Simply Chiming

Do you want to know what I am stoked about? Probably not, but since I am suppose to blog, I am going to share any way. I am excited about wind chimes! No not the annoying kind that everyone insists upon hanging from the front porch but the unusual. I was walking through the theme gardens on site with parents when I came across a very large single bell type chime. Instantly, I had a hunkering for new sounds in the garden.
Wind chimes, well made, provide a great dimension many do not consider in their gardening. . .sound. Interesting chimes add something to the air that when mixed with great visual and smelly interest makes a complete garden sensual experience.

One does not just hang a wind chime wherever, especially in a children’s garden. Sitting the fabulous chimes (shameless plug) I purchased from our very own gift shop (check out the upcoming tent sale by the way) took some careful thought. First, I want visitors to hear the sound before they see the chime. It adds mystery. Second, the chime must be in a part of the garden where wind passes through easily (not easy in an overgrown jungle). Lastly, and this is important for my garden, the chime had to be out of reach of most hands. Though I love for kids to engage things in the garden, the idea of mass groups of kids stumbling over each other to smack a gong or pull a clacker did not seem overly safe.

So. . .come on down for some sound fun.

Posted by Josh Steffen
 

The sight and scent of black elderberry in the Herb Garden give me a momentary touch of vertigo. The flower clusters covering the towering shrub in creamy-white domes, buzzing with bees of all kinds, just epitomize summer for me. It seems odd but wonderful to stand next to them in the heart of University Circle, with Severance Hall, the Peter B. Lewis Building and the Museum of Art radiating culture and sophistication a few yards away.

Posted by Ann McCulloh

 I’m a staunch believer in beauty for beauty’s sake. Some things nourish us on a purely aesthetic level, in wonderful, intangible ways.

Roses and June go together. Some of our lovely roses begin to bloom in late May, and many linger through summer, teasing with a stray flower now and then. September offers a sweet echo when a number of them rouse themselves into a last chorus before frost. A few really hardy roses can be seen blooming into October and November.

 

Why the "OVERgrowth?"

I sometimes get the complaint that the children’s garden is so "overgrown." This is a complaint of adult personages and not of children. Children seem to have no problem navigating the environment in which they find themselves. I thought of this particular comment yesterday as I was pruning the Little Leaf Lindens that stretch their arms over each side of the front garden gate. The bottom branches create a filtered view into the garden and a height requirement as adults must bend slightly or face branch brushing. Hershey Children’s Garden is built around immersion. The garden is designed as a full immersion experience with plant, flower, frog and dragonfly. As a gardener I want plants smacking you in the face. In this garden, people move for the plants and not the other way around.

Having said all that, I do take certain measures. My style of gardening is to provide a wild but controlled look to any space I manage. This is reflected most in the way woody plants are pruned. I prune to control growth so as to keep plants in scale with others or to provide filtered views or clear path ways. Kids do become intimidated when a path becomes too overgrown. We find kids do not choose a path if it is so congested that it looks like a scary place to be or an impenetrable barrier.
 

One of the pleasures of a perennial garden is definitely the anticipation of seeing favorite blooms and vignettes re-appear year after year. The scene is the same, but always with a difference. Some plants thrive, getting fuller and more beautiful every year. Others are meant to dwindle away, to eventually be replaced by something new and just as lovely. The rather short blooming period of many perennials adds to the charm of a garden that is always in flux, always on the cusp of another transition.

This is the Garden’s CK Patrick perennial border, composed of herbaceous perennials and medium-sized shrubs. All combine to create harmonies of color and texture with foliage as well as flowers. This is one of my favorite moments in this garden, when the 7-foot foxtail lilies frame a cottage-pretty view of ‘Carefree Delight’ roses, pale yellow foxgloves, ‘Bee’s Ruby’ thrift and a dozen other pink, yellow and lavender beauties.

Yes They Exist!

Okay, so maybe you are not as horticulturally ignorant as I am, but until recently I still conceived (even with all my vast training) of flowering bulbs as a spring and fall thing. There is, however, a whole series of options that add interest throughout the summer. Here are a couple of my current favorites found in Hershey Children’s Garden:

• Eucomis comosa  is the pineapple lily. This semi-hardy South African bulb provides interesting spikes of color for a solid week (if I recall) and the broad, coarse leaves add great textural interest.
• Many lilies, Lillium sp., are wonderful to behold. An unknown orange cultivar, pictured above, is blooming as I write this article.
• Triteleia sp. is actually a cormous set of fourteen species, but it’s delightful summer blue is worth pointing out. The blooms last for approximately a week and definitely like more sun. Come see such a display as seen below.