Eric Sternfels is part of a team of volunteers that maintains a stunning garden in Ned Wolf Park in Philadelphia. This park is small—just 50 feet by 150 feet—but the team of volunteer caretakers has turned it into a magical space. Eric has shared the garden with us before (Revisiting Ned Wolf Park and Through the Seasons at Ned Wolf Park), and it is always a pleasure to get to visit it again and see what is blooming. Recently, Eric noticed that the hellebores were putting on a particularly stunning display, and he sent in some photos of them and other early-spring bloomers in the garden.
These hellebores (Helleborus hybrids, Zones 4–9) are just loaded with blooms. Consistently among the first perennials to bloom in the spring, hellebores are also easy to grow and deer resistant, so they fit into nearly every garden.
The colorful parts that look like petals on a hellebore are actually sepals, so they don’t drop off as the flower matures, instead staying in place and looking beautiful for a very long time, often shifting to green as they mature.
‘Pink Frost’ hellebore can flower so heavily it is nearly a solid mass of flowers.
Mahonia bealei (Zones 7–9) is an early-blooming evergreen shrub with big spires of fragrant yellow flowers.
Crocus flavus (Zones 3–9) blooms close up on cloudy days, just waiting for some sunshine to coax them fully open.
A tree peony (Paeonia ‘Purple Butterly in the Wind’, Zones 4–8) is just beginning to push into growth. The enormous flowers are a stunning showpiece in the garden later in the season.
Black sea toothwort (Cardamine quinquefolia, Zones 6–8) is an ephemeral perennial that isn’t on the radar of most gardeners, but it should be. It pops up early with this wonderful carpet of flowers and then goes dormant for the summer.
Hoop petticoat daffodils (Narcissus hybrids, Zones 4–9) are a group of species and hybrids with enormous trumpets and tiny petals. The plants are miniature, and one of their best features is their delicate, grasslike foliage that is unobtrusive as it fades after flowering.
And here’s one final view of the hellebores showing off! This park sure is starting the gardening year off right.
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