Morris Arboretum (4/5/2024)

Friday, April 5, 2024 (continued)

Our next stop was Morris Arboretum and Gardens, which adheres strictly to the 90-mile rule and does not allow reciprocity with Tyler Arboretum. So paying full price, we had to get our money's worth!

The arboretum was once the privae estate of brother and sister John and Lydia Morris. Established in 1887 as Compton, the estate had steep slopes and poor soil. The Morrises improved the land and began filling the property with collections of exotic and native trees and shrubs from across the temperate world. In 1914 they purchased the adjacent Bloomfield Farm.

The plan to turn their property into a public garden and, even more importantly, an educational institution devoted to horticulture, were realized in 1932 when Lydia bequeathed Compton and Bloomfield to the University of Pennsylvania. (John died in 1915.) Morris Arboretum opened to the public in 1933.

Morris Arboretum Widener Visitor Center (1888, as
the Gardener's Cottage) with a flowering cherry tree

Cherry tree selfie (KSS)

Bronze Bell (c 1992, by Toshiko Takaezu)

Cephalotaxus sp/Plum Yew

Start of Out on a Limb: A Tree Adventure Exhibit,
a tree canopy walk

Squirrel Scramble/a hammock-like net

Giant Bird's Nest to the right

Tamiko sits on a "robin's egg"

Helleborus orientalis/Lenten Rose

The Rose Garden (1888)

Tulip border (KSS)

Rose Garden before the roses revive

The Fernery (1899), the only remaining freestanding
Victorian fernery in North America

Inside the Fernery

Ferns and mosses (KSS)

Metasequoia glyptostroboides/Dawn Redwood
(1953 planting) was initially described as extinct

This was the only "sculpture" in the Sculpture Garden,
but is actually the 40' long Willow Wander

Welcome to Fairy Woods in Whimsical Woods

Wissahickon Creek runs along the western border (KSS)

Key Fountain (1915)

African Queen (date unknown, artist unknown)
is made of Zimbabwean serpentine (KSS)

Prunus x yedoensis/Yoshino Cherry blossoms

Prunus 'Accolade'/Accolade Flowering Cherry

Matteucia struthiopteris/Ostrich Fern
spore fronds

Ravine Garden (1913)

Mercury Loggia (1913)

Prunus x sieboldii 'Takasago'/Takasago Siebold Cherry blossoms

Seven Arches stands overlooking the English Park,
and once contained a 220'-deep well and hydraulic
equipment that carried water to nearby garden areas

Japanese Overlook (1912)

After B K S Iyengar (1978, by Robert M Engman)

Step Fountain (1916, by Robert Rodes McGoodwin)

Tulipa clusiana 'Lady Jane'/Lady Jane Tulips and yellow
Narcissus bulbocodium/Petticoat Daffodils

Log Cabin (1908) was used as a private retreat by Lydia

Inside the Log Cabin

Flowering cherry tree by a bridge

Swan Pond (1905), an artificial lake (the swans
were entertaining children elsewhere)

However, the mallard ducks fed from
a hand-made duck feeder

Japanese Hill and Water Garden (1905); the hill was
created from soil excavated from Swan Pond

Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica/
Striped Squill

Flowering cherry tree and forsythia

Untitled (After Black Forest) (1988,
by Robinson Fredenthal)

One of a pair of vine trellises, which featured about
eight different vines, but not any wisteria!
To the right: Three Tubes (1979, by Israel Hadany)

Oak Allée

Untitled (1981, by George Sugarman)

Kent is dwarfed, on the left by Cedrus atlantica 'Aurea'/
Golden Atlas Cedar and Cercidiphyllum japonicum/Katsura

Kent at the base of the Katsura, deemed to be
the most noteworthy tree at Morris Arboretum;
this specimen is a Pennsylvania State Champion
and was planted between 1901 and 1909

Pennock Flower Walk fountain

Long Fountain (1905) was inspired by a trip to Alhambra
in Spain, leading to this "Moorish" fountain, which is
surrounded by Lindera salicifolia/Willow Leaf
Spicebushes that keep their leaves through the winter

Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca'/Blue Atlas Cedar (KSS)

Today was cherry blossoms, but soon
it will be magnolia blooms