Curator's blog

If you haven't had the chance to visit the garden this winter, now is the perfect time.  The snow really brings out the colors within the garden. 

Liriodendron tulipifera Dried fruit with snow

It is that time of year again! We've had our first snow storm....and second....with many more to come. 

Merry Christmas.....Happy Holidays!

Well folks, it looks like fall is officially here.

Big Tooth Maple  Acer grandidentatum

It seems like just yesterday that we couldn't wait for the snow to melt so we could get out and work in our gardens, and already some of us have  had to break out the snowshovels.  The summer just flew by.

See!  I kept my word. I updated the blog.Japanese Anemone  Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert' 

So far I've taken pictures and blogged about various places around our gardens, but never anything inside our buildings. 

We have a collection of plants in our greenhouse that we rotate through
our Orangerie to keep it beautiful.  Since they require a warmer
climate to survive, the only place you can see them is in the
Orangerie.  So next time you're here, be sure to take a look inside.

The term "fruit" has many different meanings depending on the context. In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary together with the seedsof a flowering plant. In cooking, when food items are called "fruit", the term is usually used for those plant fruits that are edible, sweet and fleshy.

Below are some examples of fruits in the garden.
Chojuro Asian Pear Pyrus 'Chojuro'

If your only purpose for visiting Red Butte Garden every year is to see our wonderful daylily collection, this week will probably be your last chance to see them.

The best places to see a great variety of daylilies is in the Water Pavillion Garden by the mother moose sculpture, around the water pavillion itself, and along the Floral Walk by the pear arbors.

Check out these beautiful cultivars.

Hemerocallis 'Brocaded Gown'

It's the time of year to keep your eye open for hummingbirds and butterflies. I've started seeing quite a few swallowtail and monarch butterflies around the garden, and the hummingbirds are beginning to spend their time around the hummingbird mint.

Hummingbird Mint Agastache rupestris

The best place to see this plant and the hummingbirds it attracts is at the bottom of the Four Seasons Garden on the north side.

To start off this weeks blog I want to bring attention to Utah's largest native flower, the Sacred Datura or Angels-Trumpet Datura wrightii.

Sacred Datura Datura wrightii

These beautiful flowers open at night and stay open until they are spent. They have a very sweet fragrance and are related to tomatoes and peppers.

Other beautiful flowers you might find in the garden include:

The time has finally come to view our new Penstemon Walk. It is located along the walkway between the Childrens Garden and the Medicinal Garden along both sides of the path.

Rocky Mountain Penstemon Penstemon strictus