Photo Galleries

The Dogwood is a wonderful small tree, offering something of interest in all seasons. The familiar flowers in spring can be white or pink (the showy parts are actually bracts, with the true flower a cluster in the middle). Late summer brings fruit, red berries of different shapes and sizes depending on the variety. Fall color can be spectacular, with vibrant reds and oranges. Winter is a great time to see the various types of bark exhibited by the different types of Dogwood.

Observed at the Arboretum this week are the elongated, oval, orange/red leaves of Cornus cv. Hyperion brightening up a cloudy day. The nicely shaped Kousa Dogwood tree next to the parking lot has red, yellow and orange leaves and its exfoliating bark is a patchwork of various shades of peach, beige and grey.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Katharine Boyle took these pictures this past Sunday. It certainly illustrated a gorgeous day at the Arboretum.

Thanks, Katharine, for sharing these with us.

The lovely sunny weather was most welcome following a couple of dreary rainy days. A gorgeous Red Oak is displaying its full fall regalia. The Green Mountain Sugar Maples’ leaves are a lovely apricot color. And the grounds behind the Haggerty Education Building are at their peak. Do visit soon!

Photo credits: Margery Ennist.

Joanne McDonald sent this beautiful group of pictures, writing, “My first visit on an 80 degree day in late October. Just beautiful! I can’t wait for spring.”

Thanks, Joanne, and we look forward to the results of your next visit.

We continue to be blessed with lovely fall weather, and the grounds at the Arboretum are a pleasure to walk around. I found a bee resting in a bright red Zinnia flower. The lavender Asters are gorgeous this year, so full of flowers and bees! Amazingly, there are still bunches of pink and blue Hydrangea flower clusters in various places in the garden. Enjoy this beautiful weather while you can!

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Fall’s winds are busily clearing the leaves from the trees, reports Steve Kanan following his visit yesterday, so these pictures may preserve some the last glimpses of this year’s autumn display.

Thanks, Steve, for the beautiful images.

Fall is certainly upon us as these pictures from Arboretum visitor, Karen Yuknevitch illustrate.

Thanks, Karen, for helping capture the season.

As many of you may know, The Frelinghuysen Arboretum has been designated as a Reference Garden by the American Conifer Society (ACS), the first and only garden in New Jersey to receive the honor. This Saturday, the Friends and the Northeast Region of the ACS are getting together to co-sponsor the 2023 Tree Symposium at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum with a series of lectures, buffet lunch, dedication of the Goodhart Dwarf Conifer Collection, tours of the Frelinghuysen Pinetum and a tour of the Hammer Garden in Morristown. Here’s a sampling of the over 436 conifers in the Arboretum’s collection.

A majestic Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica cv. Glauca) in front of the Mansion. A lovely Giant Arborvitae (Thuja plicata ‘Atrovirens’) next to the parking lot. One of two beautiful Green Giant Arborvitaes (Thuja plicata x standishii cv. Green Giant) in the Fountain Rose Garden next to the Mansion. And last, but not least, a very symmetrical White Fir (Abies concolor) in the Meadow behind the Mansion.

Picture Credits: Margery Ennist.

Katharine Boyle shared these beautiful photos with us, saying “[a]nd as much as it’s looking like autumn, there is so much beauty still blooming!”

Thanks, Katharine, for the lovely pictures.

Another gorgeous early fall day at the Arboretum. The Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum ‘Bonfire’) in front of the Mansion is in full autumn regalia showing off its apricot colored leaves. The Seven Sons Tree (Heptacodium miconioides) has dropped its white corollas and developed deep red fruiting calyces covering the tree, which is visible to the left as you drive past the Haggerty Education Center. Bees were all over the Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) in the bed above the stone wall on the way into the Haggerty.

Rain is in the forecast, so take advantage of the next couple of sunny days and schedule a visit to the Arboretum!

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Gorgeous weather, clear blue skies, sunny, a light breeze, temperatures in the low 80s – there’s nothing quite like a beautiful Indian Summer day! The pollinators at the Arboretum were taking advantage of the weather as well and were all over the gardens doing their dance.  A male Monarch Butterfly was flying from flower to flower on the Verbena bonariensis plants; the males can be identified by the dark scent patch along the fifth vein of the hindwing. An unidentified butterfly (perhaps a Painted Lady?) was also visiting the Verbena flower clusters and bees were all over the Caryopteris shrubs. A Nasturtium continues to bloom in the gardens next to Matilda’s cottage, a bright sunny yellow with red veins.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Fall’s muted colors are featured in the images from Steve Kanan’s visit to the Arboretum yesterday. Thanks, Steve, for these and we look forward to more beautiful pictures as Fall progresses.

Fall has officially arrived, but there is still much color to be found in the autumn gardens at the Arboretum. A Cornus kousa (Kousa Dogwood) is covered with a multitude of ornamental (and edible) globose, reddish, compound berries about the size of a cherry. Numerous patches of lavender Colchicum autumnale (Autumn Crocus) are blooming all over the grounds; in spite of its name, this plant is not in the crocus family, it is deadly poisonous, however. Almost hidden in the beds as you come up the driveway from Hanover Avenue is the fascinating Tricyrtis hirta (Toad Lily), its jewel-like flowers blooming on arching, unbranched stems. Fall is fleeting, so make plans to visit soon!

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Fall is just a few days away, and there is a decidedly autumnal feel to the air. I discovered a couple of late bloomers at the Arboretum today: The small white flowers of Clerodendrum trichotomum (Harlequin Glorybower) are lovely against the large shrub’s bright green leaves. In the same area, under a large Quercus rubra (Red Oak), a large stand of Cimicifuga ramosa cv. Atropurpurea (Bugbane or Black Cohosh) is in full bloom, its white spikes of tiny fragrant flowers attracting bees and even a hummingbird, which I was not quick enough to photograph! Last, but not least, the immature cones on the huge Cedrus atlantica cv. Glabra (Blue Atlas Cedar) growing next to the Mansion are just beginning to take shape; when mature they will be barrel shaped and sit upright on the branches.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Mid-September flowers, a pretty pink Hydrangea and a peach-colored tropical Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia). A wide angle shot of the large bed that borders the driveway as you come up from Hanover Avenue features a large white Hydrangea, some ornamental grasses, the Seven Sons Tree (Heptacodium miconioides) on the right and other plants as well.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist