The kids in the Garden’s Summer Children’s Gardening Program in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden learn a plethora of lessons about gardening, food, health, and teamwork. Go kids!
In the heat of the summer (and this one has especially been hot!), there are some beautiful blossoms to behold. From daylilies,hibiscus, waterlilies and of course roses, summer gardens everywhere are swelling with colorful buds. But the same just can’t be said for most woody plants.
That’s what makes the subject of this week’s video plant profile so special. In the summer heat, most woody plants have no showy flowers, but the genus Aesculus, more commonly known as buckeye, “buck”s that trend.
Check out the video below hosted by Plant Records Manager Jon Peter as he covers a few of the many types of Aesculus you can see at the Garden, and who knows, maybe in your own backyard?
Thomas C. Andres is an Honorary Research Associate at the Garden.
Humans weren’t the only ones suffering during last week’s record-breaking heatwave. The Garden’s plants and animals were also feeling the heat. And while the plants relied upon human-intervention to maintain their cool, the Garden’s feathered and fluffy residents were able to take matters into their own hands, paws, and wings.
Coping Mechanism One: Cool Off the Belly On a Mossy Tree Trunk
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Coping Mechanism Two: Sip a Mimosa
Tiger Swallowtail feeding on the nectar of a Mimosa tree, Albizia julibrissin