Get your hands dirty!

Want to get your hands dirty? Try volunteering in the Gardens!
Garden volunteers assist with seasonal planting, trimming, deadheading, weeding and other general garden upkeep. Or keep your green thumbs busy as a garden specialist and do detail work in the garden of your choice.
Ready to dig in? Contact Lillian Gattis, Director of Volunteer Services at 316.264.0448 or lgattis@botanica.org.

In Bloom at Botanica: Creeping Phlox

Botanical Name: Phlox subulata ‘Fort Hill’

Where: John Firsching Pinetum

Description: This creeping phlox has deeply cut flower petals of strong pink with a darker center. It will grow 4-6" in height with a spread of 18-24". It is fragrant and blooms early to mid spring.

Growing Tips: It prefers a sunny location with will drained soil. Shearing the plant back halfway following flowering will promote dense foliage and some reblooming.

Uses: Good ground cover for rock gardens, borders, banks and slopes.

Also blooming: Pansies, Iris, Tree Peonies and Tulips

In Bloom at Botanica: Miniature Iris

Botanical Name: Iris 'Wise' MDB

Where: Garden on the Rocks

Description: In spite of the cold weather, this miniature iris is in full bloom! The standard and style arms are dark purple. Falls are darker purple with a dark purple band. The beard is white and gold in throat and is wide and bushy. The ruffled edges and pronounced fragrance are an added bonus.

Growing Tips: Prefers well drained soil and a sunny site.

Uses: A really neat little flower to add to your collection of spring bloomers.

Also blooming: Pansies, Tulips and Tree Peonies.

In Bloom at Botanica: Candymint Crabapple

Botanical Name: Malus ‘Candymint’

Where: Margie Button Fountain & Peony Collection

Description: This dwarf crabapple has irregularly spreading branches and is smothered with bright pink flowers. It will grow to about 10ft with a spread of 15ft. The foliage is purple tinted, moving to a bronze-green as the season progresses.

Growing Tips: Prefers a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Plant from a container or balled and burlapped.

Uses: Excellent for smaller lots, container use and patio gardening.

Also blooming: Rhododendrons, Virginia Blue Bells, Pansies and Tulips.

Protect Your Plants

We've been spoiled the past couple of weeks with unseasonably warm temperatures, but Mother Nature is calling us back to reality tonight with forecasted lows in the low to mid 30s. Most plants will tolerate the cold, but protect any warm season plants with a sheet, bucket or other covering.

The BIG BULB Sale!

The big tulip bulb sale that is! That's right, after their bloom season, we sell our tulip bulbs for $0.15 a piece! With more than 80 varieties to choose from, there are plenty of colors and types to make a colorful impact on your yard next spring.
We dig them up as they finish up, so each week we'll have new varieties for sale.
Mark your calendars for the following dates and times:
April 20: beginning at 8am
April 27: beginning at 8am
May 4: beginning at 8am
Start digging for nickels and dimes and bring a plastic bag or two to take your bulbs home.

And if you haven't been to Botanica to see the tulips this spring- don't wait, visit The Gardens today!