What's Blooming: March 2023

Here are some of the plants you will find in bloom this month at the Elizabeth Lawrence House & Garden.

dwarf Chinese cherry

The beautiful bloom of Elizabeth Lawrence’s Prunus humilis “Caroline Dormon” is followed in late summer by tiny red cherries that the birds enjoy.

triandrus daffodil

Bulbs add so much to a garden! Find Elizabeth’s original Narcissus ‘Thalia’ in a few places throughout the sunny borders.

lady tulip

Elizabeth Lawrence’s original bulbs of Tulipa clusiana still bloom every spring in the middle sunny border. These flowers open during the day and close up every night.

hoopskirt daffodil

Narcissus bulbocodium blooms near the pool. There is typically some type or variety of hoopskirt daffodil in bloom in this garden from December through early April!

orris root

Also blooming near the pool this month is Elizabeth’s original planting of Iris florentina.

antique freesia

Find a small clump of Freesia alba which I planted as a trial several years ago. Just as fragrant as freesia in the cut-flower trade, these are one-fifth the size.

walking iris

Also found in the back of the garden this month is a blue form of Iris japonica.

little sweet Betsy

This month begins the spring ephemeral season, and it starts with exotic-looking (but totally native) Trillium cuneatum. Find a couple of patches of this in the back of the garden.

anise shrub

Elizabeth’s original Illicium floridanum starts blooming this month. The flowers are fragrant, but not in a good way… at least to my nose. I do love the fresh licorice scent of a bruised leaf, though.

painted buckeye

Here’s another original beauty: Aesculus sylvatica. The flowers are very much like the dwarf red buckeye, but go through much more of a color change. A stunner!

Sims azalea

By my estimation, this azalea, Rhododendron simsii var. vittatum, is one of the rarest plants in the garden. It has made a stunning months-long display ever since 1952.

green hellebore

Elizabeth Lawrence planted this Helleborus viridis in 1979 under a large pine near the birdbath. She got this plant from Dr. Herbert Hechenbleikner, who began the UNC-C Botanic Gardens.