Spring has sprung in Petworth and the flowers are showing their colors
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Cherry Blossoms at 4th and Farragut Streets NW — the same Cherry Blossoms as you’ll find along the Tidal Basin but right here in our own backyard!
If you’ve found yourself walking around our beautiful neighborhood admiring the flowers and wondering what you’re looking at, we’re here to help. Welcome to "Petworth Blooming,” a popular series featuring some of the most common plants and flowers seen around Petworth. Follow @petworthblooms on Instagram for additional photos of our neighborhood flora.
It’s still a little before peak bloom, but some of our neighborhood Creeping Phlox are getting a jumpstart on the season. Planted all over the neighborhood, these plants create gorgeous carpets of color. They are very low maintenance and will slowly spread to cover the garden if given plenty of light and good drainage.
Purple phlox cascading over a retaining wall on 4th Street NW
It’s also a little bit early for Bearded Iris, but there are a few that have opened up already. These plants are super easy to grow, handle drought with ease and readily divide for sharing with your neighbors. They flower best in full sunlight, but will still make nice sword-shaped leaves even in the shade. All kinds of colors are available.
Purple bearded iris on Delafield Street NW.
Another flower you’ll be seeing a lot more of soon are tulips. The earliest flowering varieties tend to have petals that open up a bit more at the top than the more classic “paintbrush” type, but they are still just as striking.
Early blooming tulips on Delafield Street NW
It is definitely peak bloom time for the Yoshino Cherry trees. Fortunately the recent wind storm didn’t take down too many petals. These are the same as the famous tidal basin cherry trees, but right in our front yards!
Cherry trees lining Emerson Street NW
Cherry Blossoms at 4th and Farragut Streets NW
Another flowering tree at peak bloom is the Saucer Magnolia. These Asian magnolias have impressively large petals that create an incredible pink canopy. The flowers are very sensitive to frost, so some years all the flowers may be lost before fully opening — fortunately not the case this year!
Saucer magnolia on 8th Street NW
Saucer Magnolia off Webster Street NW
A distant cousin of the cherry trees is the Flowering Quince. This thorny shrub will produce extremely sour fruits in the fall. The flowers are mostly coral colored, though a few are lighter pink or almost white. It will slowly spread by sending up new shoots, especially if the old growth is trimmed back occasionally.
Flowering Quince at the 7th and Taylor Streets NW triangle park.
The other early blooming shrub around the neighborhood is Forsythia. This Asian shrub is a member of the olive family and has brilliant yellow flowers. It’s a fast grower that can be propagated from stem cuttings.
Forsythia on Taylor Street NW
Pansies are one of the few annual flowers you can plant in the winter. These relatives of the common violet have much larger flowers and lots of color options available. They don’t do well once the heat of summer arrives, but provide lots of color throughout the spring.
Pansies on 9th Street NW
Perhaps the easiest of the fall bulbs to grow, Daffodils have reached their peak about now. Whether it’s classic yellow, white, or a faded peach you can’t go wrong with these bulbs for early spring color. Over time they’ll form larger and larger clumps, making each successive spring display more impressive than the last.
Daffodils in Grant Circle NW
So what's blooming next in Petworth? We’ll talk about that, next month!
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