What’s In Bloom?

29, Jul, 2010 Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy

by Matthew Lobdell

Tri-color Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii ‘Tri-color’)

Though originally native to China, Butterfly Bush has become popular in American Gardens due to its ability to attract butterflies. This species is new to the Greenway, having only been planted in the Fort Point Channel Parks earlier this spring. The cultivar ‘Tri-color’ produces blossoms of three different colors. Some are white, some a pale pink, and some a deep purple.

buddleia davidii 'tri-color'

Shortwood Summer Phlox (Phlox paniculata ‘Shortwood’)

A United States Native, Summer Phlox is often a staple in summer perennial gardens. It is the largest growing of all native phloxes, achieving a size of five feet in optimal conditions. Shortwood Summer Phlox is currently flowering in both Dewey Square Park and the Fort Point Channel Parks, there alongside a white-flowering cultivar, ‘David’.

phlox paniculata shortwood

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

Native to New England, Great Blue Lobelia grows so prolifically in wet meadows and moist soils that it is sometimes considered a weed. Where it currently blooms in Dewey Square Park however, the pale blue flowers make for a nice contrast against the Purple Hollow-stemmed Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum ‘Atropurpureum’) and thus a desirable plant.

Look also for the related native Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) in the Wharf District Parks.

Lobelia siphilitica

Also in Bloom:

  • North End Parks: Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
  • Wharf District Parks: Pink Tickseed (Coreopsis rosea), Black Baneberry (Actaea racemosa), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
  • Urban Arboretum: Pink Velour, Red Rocket, and Burgundy Cotton Crapemyrtles (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Whit III’, ‘Whit IV’, and Whit ‘VI’),
  • Fort Point Channel Parks: Neon Showy Stonecrop (Hylotelephium spectabile ‘Neon’), Lavender Chiffon Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus ‘Notwoodone’), Big Sky™ Summer Sky Coneflower (Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’)
  • Dewey Square Park: Goldsturm Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’), Purple Hollow-stemmed Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum ‘Atropurpureum’), Color Wheel Stokes’ Aster (Stokesia laevis ‘Color Wheel’)