What’s in Bloom

September, with its cool breeze and warm sunlight is the perfect month to discover some of the more subtle blooms along the Greenway.

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Cardinal Flower is a New England native perennial now blooming in our Wharf District Parks. Its bright red flowers bloom in an upright raceme, or long unbranched cluster of flowers along a stem, and in the wild are pollinated by hummingbirds. It grows well in wet conditions and will tolerate full sun, but prefers partial shade.

Cardinal Flower

Dwarf Fountain Grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’)

This dwarf cultivar of Fountain grass has been a garden favorite for years ‘Hameln’ does not grow more than two feet tall, and it’s compact form becomes peppered with one inch long creamy spiked flowers on the tips of its foliage in the late summer through the fall. ‘Hameln’ can be seen in bloom in our Fort Point Channel Parks.

Dwarf Fountain Grass

Japanese Windflower (Anemone hupehensis var. japonica ‘Pamina’)

The ‘Pamina’ hybrid windflowers continue to bloom this week in our Fort Point Channel Parks along Pearl Street. ‘Pamina’ has bright purplish-pink flowers with a yellow eye that shoot up on wiry stems above dark green lobed foliage. This hybrid grows two to three feet tall in full sun to part shade and blooms from late summer to September.

Japanese Windflower