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The more you explore, the more you'll discover! That's exactly what summer brings to the West Virginia Botanic Garden on Tyrone Road in Morgantown. The flowers are everywhere, and the vibrant energy attracts all sorts of animals, from birds to bees and butterflies.
When you visit the WVBG, you'll find yourself at the Yagle Garden, where the blooms on the panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) create a stunning landscape. The Yagle Garden features both tree and shrub varieties, all in bloom. The short-stature trees are the variety "Strawberry Vanilla," and they've transformed from pure white to a rosy strawberry hue. While they're native to Asia, our local pollinators are delighted by these large, showy blooms.
In the Yagle Garden, you'll also see hibiscus, rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), and rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus). These large blooms have the characteristic crape-like petals and protruding stamens of the Malvaceae family. On warm, sunny days, these blooms are a favorite spot for our native bees.
Below the Yagle Garden are the WVBG pollinator flower beds. Here, you'll find gray-headed coneflowers (Ratibida pinnata) in bloom. These native perennial coneflowers have blooms with drooping yellow petals on stalks that reach about four feet tall and attract our pollinators. Nearby, you'll find the Lifetime Giving Garden flower bed, filled with red gomphrena and purple petunias. This showy display draws in butterflies all day long.
This summer, the WVBG is showcasing an outdoor exhibit dedicated to Blanche Lazzell, a West Virginia artist known for her white-line woodcuts and cubistic paintings. At the Education Center, the exhibit recreates her home when she worked in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the WVBG staff even planted raised beds with many of her favorite flower subjects. Check out the hollyhocks, sunflowers and so much more all blooming beautifully.
Nature is art, and art is nature, especially when you visit and become a member of the Garden at WVBG.org.