The James G. Kaskey Memorial Park honors its past as the first Botanic Garden of the University of Pennsylvania, bolsters research and educational opportunities within the Department of Biology, and enriches community well-being by creating a verdant oasis for plants and people.
This month in the park:
- Bright yellow flowers of the woods-poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum, lights up any shady planting.
- Summer containers are out on the plaza, featuring bromeliads that turn orange in the sun and an Arizona cypress.
- A wide variety of pollinators stop by the park when Hypericum are in flower.
- The shocking pink blooms of Callirhoe stand out amongst a green backdrop.
- Hydrangea season arrives at the park. Here H. paniculata and H. quercifola border the pathway.
- Hydrangea quercifolia begins to bloom, with the bracts (the showy white part) opening around the interior flowers.
- Developing hazelnuts, Corylus avellena.
- A mixture of aster family, Asteracece, flowers shows the diversity of the family.
- The long blooming flowers of Tradescantia virginiana attract pollinators through the summer.
- Two bull frogs, Lithobates catesbeianus, hanging out in the pickerel weed.
- An up close look at the curious flower structure of the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca.
- We grow a variety of hardy ferns in the Fernery. This area is a study of texture and the spectrum of greens.
- Honey bees visit the large, fragrant flowers of Magnolia grandiflora.
- Quamash, fleabane, and foxgloves mingle to create a white frothy planting palette at the Pond.
- Light pink inflorescences of Indigofera bloom from the bottom up, providing flowers for much of early summer.
- Lithobates clamitans, the green frog, hangs out on a rock in the pond.
- Oriental and asiatic lilies are blooming all around the park.
- Pontederia cordata, pickerelweed, grows along the edges of the BioPond.
- The large inflorescences of Aesculus parviflora give it its common name, the bottlebrush buckeye.
- Balloon flower, Platycodon grandiflorus 'Astra Double White', blooms outside of Leidy Labs.
- These Amelanchier fruits are affected by cedar apple rust, a fungus that impacts members of the rose family, but requires cedar trees to complete its life cycle.
- Backlit foliage lights up the Woodland Garden.
- Martagon lilies and foxgloves mingle on the Waterfall Slope.
- White and yellow Verbascum self seed into garden beds on the Levin Plaza.
- Calycanthus sinensis is a Chinese relative of our native Calycanthus floridus. The flowers vary in petal shape, color, and size.