What’s in Bloom

5, May, 2011 Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy

Wild Tulip (Tulipa praestans, ‘Shogun’)

This orange-flowered tulip appears in the early to mid spring and is originally native to Central Asia. Like the Turkestan Tulip, it is a “species” tulip, meaning that it occurs naturally in the wild and is not a result of hybridizing. The cultivar ‘Shogun’, planted on the Greenway, is a bright orange rather than the more standard red form. This wild tulip can currently be seen flowering in both the Urban Arboretum and the northern section of the Fort Point Channel Parks.

Wild Tulip

Wild Tulip

Yellow Magnolia (Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’)

A hybrid of the white flowering Chinese-native Yulan Magnolia (Magnolia denudata) and the green-yellow flowering Southeastern US Native Cucumbertree (Magnolia acuminata ssp. subcordata), the Yellow Magnolia combines the larger flowers of the first parent with the bright yellow coloration of the second. Though there are currently many Yellow Magnolias available in the trade, the cultivar Elizabeth was the first one to be developed. The Elizabeth Magnolia can currently be seen flowering in the North End Parks.

Yellow  Magnolia

Yellow Magnolia

Daffodils (Narcissus sp.)

The Fort Point Channel Parks are currently exploding with a display of nearly thirty varieties of daffodils representing at least seven different divisions. Pictured here are a Trumpet Daffodil (Narcissus ‘Mount Hood’), a Small-cupped Daffodil (Narcissus ‘Mint Julep’), and a Double Daffodil (Narcissus ‘Sir Winston Churchill’).

Trumpet Daffodil

Trumpet Daffodil

Small-cupped Daffodil

Small-cupped Daffodil

Double Daffodil

Double Daffodil