“April is heralded by the blooming of the soft yellow Korean Goldenbell, the only Forsythia whose flower buds are immune to intense cold.”
Thus begins the ‘April’ section of my grandfather Lowell Kammerer’s 1942 article for the Chicago Flower and Garden Show pamphlet. The show was held at the Morton Arboretum that year due to war-related activities at Navy Pier - which is where the show had been typically held (and is its home today.)
I was able to see this vanguard of spring blossoms during a visit to the Arboretum this past weekend, where April flowers were putting on quite a show!
He also advises to look out for the Star Magnolia around this time, “a shrubby white-flowered species of irresistible charm.”
Beyond the Fragrance Garden, I was able to find several Magnolias that were erupting into bloom.
This Anise Magnolia (Magnolia salicifolia) was incredibly fragrant! I could smell the flowers from quite a distance away.
I was able to find a Fragrant Viburnum like the one my grandfather describes, although in a different location. He notes that they “perfume the area near the Administration Building with the odor of Heliotrope and Spice Pink.” I only explored the West side of the Arboretum on this visit so I couldn’t look for the Viburnum he described, but I still spied a Fragrant Viburnum White Perfume (Viburnum farreri) in the Frangrance Garden.
If you have topics you’re interested to hear more about, have any questions for me, or if I got a plant ID wrong, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
In the final paragraph regarding April blooms, my grandfather describes the variety of flowers that can first be seen blossoming throughout the Arboretum in April. He specifically mentioned Sargent’s Glade as being the “center of interest,” so I made a point to spend time meandering through the wildflowers there.
The most stunning flowers I found were these striking Crocus growing in Sargent’s Glade.
The end of the April section of “Through the Seasons at the Morton Arboretum” closes with a description of blooming wildflowers that seems incredibly apt:
Bordering the stream flowing from the Rock Garden, clumps of waxy golden Marsh Marigolds rise above sheets of Blue Forget-menots, and on the gentle slope above, thousands of naturalized Narcissus and Bluebells bloom in colorful harmony.
It was an absolute pleasure to visit the Arboretum and witness this harmonious spring bloom, and it was a fun adventure trying to find the flowers, trees, and places my grandfather described. I’m so looking forward to continuing this series for the coming months and exploring the Arboretum’s visage as the seasons change.
Happy Spring!
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