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Determining when some of the earliest specimens at the Morris were planted requires a bit of sleuthing.

Fothergilla spp. are in the witchhazel family, and attract pollinators with the showy stamens of its male flowers. Named for Dr. John Fothergill (1712–1780), an English physician with a thriving medical practice, the Morris hosts a range of these plants including fothergillia ʻMt. Airy’ (F. × intermedia ʻMt. Airy’).

Morris Arboretum & Gardens began as Compton, the private estate of the siblings who purchased farmland in 1887 and began planning a garden where art and science would thrive together, and where stewardship would extend to caring for both plants and people.

New name, new look, the same commitment to connecting plants, people, and place...

An herbarium is a lot like a library, except instead of books it holds botanical specimens. The Morris Arboretum Herbarium contains more than 25,000 specimens, all of which have been digitized. From pressed orchids to parasitic mistletoe to oak branches with acorns, the Herbarium hosts a diverse array of plants.  

Two similar plant species caught my attention at the Morris this week because of their attractive and early season blooms: Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop) and Leucojum vernum (spring snowflake). ). Often called “harbingers of spring,” both are bulb plants and have nodding flowers, sometimes spotted peeking through snow (hence the common names).

Edgeworthia chrysantha is a shrub that bears fragrant flowers in the winter. While most genus names honor one person who is often a man, Edgeworthia commemorates a brother and his half-sister, each notable in their own right.

While the warmer winters in Philadelphia may not be normal in 2023, it could be normalized sooner than we think, and the Arboretum has been actively thinking ahead of climate change for over a decade.