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Pictures from Steve Kanan

Steve Kanan sent these pictures from a visit to the Frelinghuysen last Thursday, May 18th. He particularly noted the uncommon poppies amongst the other beautiful images.

Thanks, Steve for sharing these with us.

Seating at the Arboretum

The Frelinghuysen Arboretum’s grounds are lovely to stroll through, but you might also want to sit, relax and simply enjoy your surroundings. There’s a wide choice of seating areas, in the sun, in the shade, under cover, etc. The teak benches next to Matilda’s cottage offer a shady place to rest, read or just sit. The benches in the blue garden in front of Matilda’s are in the sun and are a lovely complement to the blue flowers in the beds. The table and chairs in the gazebo overlooking the Marsh Meadow offer a comfortable place to enjoy a picnic lunch and watch the birds. These are by no means the only seating areas at the Arboretum, come for a visit and discover others on your own!

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

At the Arboretum – 5/10/23

Lovely, dramatic color combinations and textures, Mother Nature is quite the artist and her craft was amply visible at the Arboretum this week!. A lovely, strongly scented Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’ (Meyer Lilac) watches over the delicate, pale blue flowers of Amsonia tabernaemontana (Eastern Bluestar); a newly pruned Cotinus’ foliage (Smoke Bush) dramatically emerges among a bed of fresh, green strappy Hemerocallis (Daylily) foliage. A bee busily works the lemon yellow flowers of Euphorbia palustris (Marsh Spurge). So much more to see, visit soon!

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

At the Arboretum – May 2, 2023

The gardens around Matilda’s Cottage are filling in nicely with lots of flowering plants, growing bulbs and newly leafed out shrubs. The Alpine Garden is a treasure of small plants and flowers, including a mass of tiny yellow flowers blooming amongst the rocks; unfortunately, the plant was not labelled and I am not familiar with it. I’d welcome an ID if anyone knows what it is!

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

At the Arboretum – 4/25/23

A variety of colorful ground covers are emerging around the Arboretum, i.e., a lovely, tiny, yellow-flowered Euphorbia cyparissias cv. Fen’s Ruby (Cypress Spurge), a drift of white Iberis sempervirens (Candytuft) and the delicate, light blue flowers of Myosotis (Forget-Me-Not) can all be seen in the vicinity of Matilda’s Cottage. Also, a striking red-flowered  Paeonia cv. Cardinal’s Robe (Peony) is in full bloom in the Cottage Garden (the yellowish shrub in the background is a Spirea).

Picture credits: Margery Ennist

Photos from Saturday – 4/22/23

Katharine Boyle sent a batch of photos, saying, “Enclosed are some highlights from my visit on Saturday, Earth Day…. Thank you and wishing you and the friends a wonderful week!”

You can see more of Katharine’s photos in her Instagram profile, @katharineboylephotography.

Saturday Saunter – 4/22/23

Thanks to Steve Kanan who shared this batch of photos from his visit to the Frelinghuysen Arboretum this past Saturday, Earth Day.

At the Arboretum – 4/18/23

After some unusually warm April weather, temperatures have fallen to more seasonal levels. The warm weather did promote all kinds of early blooming, though. This year, the bulb planting at the entrance to the Haggerty Education Center is a happy combination of white daffodils interspersed with orange tulips. The display is funded by a grant from the Friends of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum.

So many plants are in bloom that it was difficult to choose what to photograph; I settled on the Bleeding Heart (Dicentra) plants sporting arched stems of lovely pink heart-shaped flowers and Witch Alder (Fothergilla) shrubs covered in white brush like flowers. Spring at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum, what could be better?

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Photos from Katharine BoylePhotos from

Our frequent contributor, Katharine Boyle, sent these beautiful pictures from a visit to the Frelinghuysen yesterday.

She said, “Today was a perfectly cloudy day for macro and wide angle photography. The bumble bee in the last few photos was enormous and hard to keep up with its busy pollination activities! Spring has sprung!”

Love the bumblebee!