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March Blooms at Tryon Palace

Happy March! After a wet, windy February, we’ve been enjoying the sunny days with glee! Our gardens are full of incredible blooms that warrant a closeup smell and second look- the gardeners are also making some new fun changes and additions that we’re thrilled to share! March kicks off the beginning of our crazy spring season and the changes in the gardens are almost daily! If you haven’t made it to see our gardens yet this spring, we’ve got some great upcoming opportunities!

We’re adding 1500 baby plants to the greenhouse this week and are so excited by some of these new varieties! We’ll have another 8000 or so arriving later this months for our gardens. These initial baby plants will be for our gardens AND for sale at our Spring Plant Sale, April 9 & 10 from 9am- 5pm on the Daves House lawn. We’ve got lots of locally grown perennials, herbs, annuals, veggies, trees and shrubs. If you aren’t sure what to buy, take a walk through our gardens during FREE Garden Lovers Weekend April 9-11 and come see us! Remember to come early as stock is limited!

Also coming this month, we’ll begin our Behind the Scenes Tours in the garden, where you can join one of our gardeners for a walk around the Palace blooms! The tours are March 16 and 23, beginning at 2pm at the Waystation.

If you’re interested in a long term “behind the scenes” venture, we are looking for volunteers for pruning, planting, raking, mulching, watering, weeding. It’s a great way to learn some gardening tips and tricks, especially for our area If you’re interested in volunteering with us, please contact me at hadley.cheris@ncdcr.gov.

We hope to see you soon! Happy Gardening,

Hadley Cheris, Tryon Palace Gardens and Greenhouse Manager

Annuals

Ornamental Kale are a great way to add color in foliage- they also attract less worms than ornamental cabbage!
  • Annual Phlox (Phlox drummondii) mix
  • Dianthus- Super Parfait Raspberry, Zing Rose
  • Dusty Miller ‘Silver Dust’
  • Flowering Kale “Nagoya Rose”, “Songbird Mix”
  • Gazania ‘Tiger Mix’, ‘Pink Shades’, ‘Colorado’, ‘Sunny Side Up’, ‘New Magic’, ‘New Day Yellow’
  • Pansies: Cats Mix; Matrix Mix Sunrise; Delta Premium Mix
  • Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) various
  • Sweet William (Dianthus) Telstar Mix; red, white, pink
  • Swiss Chard ‘Bright Lights’
  • Violas: Sorbet: Mix XP, Mix Ocean Breeze; Admire Maxi Mix; Penny: Mix All Seasons, White Blotch; Viola Frizzle Sizzle Mini Mix

Perennials

Hellebores are a fantastic winter bloomer and have unique blooms that stay beautiful even as they fade.
  • Bath’s Pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) pink
  • Barrenwort (Epimedium grandiflorum) yellow
  • Bears foot Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) yellowish
  • Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) white
  • Cape Leadwort (Plumbago capensis) blue
  • Carnation (Dianthus sp.) various
  • Creeping Veronica (Veronica umbrosa) blue
  • English daisy ‘Bellissiama Mix’ pink, white (Bellis)
  • Lenten Rose (Helleborus X orientalis) pink, white, purple
  • Leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum) yellow
  • Mazus (Mazus reptans ‘alba’) white
  • Mountain pinks (Phlox subulata) pink, lavender, white
  • Pinks (Dianthus chinensis) pink
  • Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemes) orange berries
  • Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) pink
  • Wallflowers (Cheiranthus allionii) orange
  • Wild Geranium (Geranium pratense) magenta
  • Vinca (Vinca minor) blue

Bulbs, Corms and Rhizomes

Small but mighty- crocus add bright spots to a landscape in clumps
  • Algerian Iris (Iris ungularia) blue
  • Bearded Iris “Immortality” white, reblooming
  • Cemetery Iris (Iris schreekuppe) white
  • Crocus (Crocus vernus) various
  • Daffodils, Jonquils and Paperwhites (Narcissus sp) yellows, white
  • Daffodil Poeticus Actaea, Double Flower Drift, Double Sir Winston Churchill
  • Dwarf Iris: Mixed, “J S Dijt”, danfordiae
  • Gladiolus specie byzantinus
  • Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) blue
  • Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) pink, white, purple
  • Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) pink, white, purple
  • Lady Jane Tulip- white and pink (Tulipa clusiana)
  • Marjoletti Tulip- yellow and orange
  • Paperwhite Narcissus (Narcissus papyraceus) white
  • Poppy Anemone (Anemone coronaria De Caen) various
  • Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) white, green
  • Snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum) white
  • Starflower (Ipheion uniflorum) blue-white (Stinky)
  • Tulips: Lily-flowered: Ballade, Ballerina, Multicolor Mixture ; Single Lates: Multicolor Mixture, Maureen
  • Wood Hyacinth (Scilla campanulata) blue; white

Trees and Shrubs

We've left a spot just for you between Camellia japonica's vibrant blooms (L) and fragrant Winter honeysuckle (R)
  • Akebia vine (Akebia quinata) cream color blooms, smells like chocolate
  • Azaleas (Rhododendron sp.) Variety sizes and colors
  • Bridal Wreath (Spirea prunifolia) white
  • Camellia (Camellia japonica) cultivars:

‘Pink Perfection’ pink, double

‘Professor Sargent’ deep rose, double

‘Debutante’ clear, light pink

‘Lady Clare’ carmine rose, semi-double

‘Alba plena’ white with pink cast

‘Lovely Surprise’ pink

‘Dr. Tinsley’ pink, semi-double

  • Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) yellow *TOXIC TO HONEY BEES*
  • Chinese Mahonia (Mahonia fortunei) yellow
  • First Breath of Spring or Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) white
  • Flowering Almond (Prunus glandulosa) pink, fuzzy
  • Flowering Apricot (Prunus mume) pink
  • Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) apricot pink, red
  • Fragrant Osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans) yellow **Smells AMAZING**
  • Fragrant Winter Sweet (Chimonanthus praecox) yellow
  • Himalayan Sweetbox (Sarcococca hookerana) white, black drupe, Fragrant
  • Hollies (Ilex sp.) white
  • Leatherleaf Viburnum (Viburnum rhytophyllum) white
  • Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) pink to white
  • Chinese Snowball (Viburnum macrocephalum ‘Sterile’) greenish white
  • Blackhaw or Walter Viburnum (Viburum obovatum)
  • Judd’s Viburnum (Viburnum judii) pink, fragrant
  • Pearlbush (Exochorda racemosa) white
  • Japanese Pieris (Pieris japonica) white
  • Redbud (Cercis canadensis) fuchsia
  • Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) small white
  • Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) purple
  • Sassafras (Sassafras officinale) chartreuse
  • Tea plant (Camellia sinenses) white/yellow
  • Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorium) yellow
  • Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) yellow to reddish brown

Berries and seeds: Bird Food

Berries aplenty for hungry birds from nandina (L) and Lusteleaf Holly (R)
  • Hollies (Ilex sp.): Yaupon (I. vomitoria) red, yellow; Winterberry (I. verticillata) red; Dahoon (I. cassine) red; Lusterleaf (I. latifolia) red; Dwarf Burford Holly (Ilex cornuta) red berries
  • Nandina (Nandina domestica) red, yellow
  • Japanese Fatsia (Fatsia japonica) green to black
  • Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemosa) orange-red

Bee Food/ Wildflowers:

Dandelions are important early source of nutrition for honey bees- see those loaded pollen baskets!
  • Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) yellow
  • Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) lavender

Kitchen Garden:

Members of the Brassica family, like broccoli, kale and cabbage, provide the majority of cold weather vegetable crops.
  • Cover crops- crimson clover, mustard, rye, white clover
  • Beets, carrots, lettuce, mustards, kale, parsley, Swiss chard, spinach, arugula, fava beans, artichoke, cardoon, brussel sprouts, cabbage, collards
Created By
Hadley Cheris
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