BEHIND THE SCENES IN MARCH

There are five and a half weeks left until Garden in the Woods opens on April 15, but already the garden is showing signs of life. Both Hamamelis vernalis (spring witchhazel) and Salix discolor (pussywillow) are blooming here in Framingham, so we know spring can't be far away. Our Horticulture Staff is busy cleaning up the garden as the snow melts -- particularly from winter's impact on trees throughout the garden. Horticulturist Rolf Schilling has seeds underway for some very unusual plants which will be added to the garden this year -- some of which have never been planted here before. Seedlings include: Sabatia kennedyana (Plymouth gentian) for the Rare Plant Garden, Ipomea leptophylla (bush morning glory) for the Meadow Garden, and Agastache rupestris (sunset hyssop) and Oxytropis lambertii (purple locoweed) for the Western Garden. Schilling expects all but the purple locoweed will bloom this year, and he is particularly excited about the bush morning glory which produces a tuber that grows to the size of an adult human!