What's in Bloom at Rotary Botanical Gardens – April 3, 2026

Spring didn't just arrive at Rotary Botanical Gardens this week. It burst wide open.

Our volunteer plant specialist Melissa Lauer made her rounds on April 3rd and found an impressive number of new blooms, many of them jumping straight to peak. Here's what you can expect to find right now:

Hellebores – All Woodland Areas The hellebores are looking fantastic. Existing plants have grown larger and filled in with more blooms, and new plants are beginning to bud. The collection as a whole still has a ways to go, but the plants that are open are at their peak right now. It's a great time to visit the woodland areas and take a closer look.

Hellebore A cluster of open hellebore blooms in dusty purple and white with dark veining and promine

Hellebore Cinnamon Snow A Hellebore Cinnamon Snow variety showing creamy tan-peach cupped blooms jus

Hellebore Tropical Sunset A deep burgundy-red Hellebore Tropical Sunset bloom facing upward, display

Iris Reticulata – Japanese Garden The dark purple Iris reticulata has peaked in the Japanese Garden. There's one plot of about 50 plants, making it the largest single concentration of this variety anywhere in the gardens. Catch it while you can.

Drumstick Primrose – Japanese Garden A few dozen drumstick primrose have started blooming in the Japanese Garden. They typically last a couple of weeks, depending on the weather, so now is a good time to stop by.

Primrose (Drumstick Primrose) Bright magenta-pink drumstick primrose flowers in full bloom, clustered tightly together with deep green leaves emerging from the base at Rotary Botanical Gardens.

Squill – Everywhere We have several varieties of squill blooming across the gardens, including pink, blue, purple, white, and striped. They're tiny, but when they carpet the grass they make a real impression. The striped squill (white with delicate stripes) is particularly worth seeing right now in the entrance gardens.

Squill A small white striped squill flower spike rising from the soil, with delicate white petals and a compact bell-shaped form, photographed at ground level at Rotary Botanical Gardens.

The North Path – A Must-See Right Now If you haven't walked the North Path lately, this is your week. The entire garden is approaching peak bloom and it is stunning. Daffodils are surrounded by a carpet of Siberian squill in solid blue, and hundreds of bloodwort dot the hillside. Both the squill and bloodwort are small flowers, but together they create something really special.

A note for visitors: due to construction, the North Path can only be entered from the gazebo side, and you'll need to walk back the way you came. It's worth the trip.

Bloodwort A white bloodwort flower with six rounded petals surrounding a bright yellow center, blooming close to the ground among dried leaf litter at Rotary Botanical Gardens.

Also Blooming This Week

Per Melissa's bloom report, here's a quick look at what else is out there:

Marsh Marigold is at peak bloom along the North Path. Forsythia is just getting started in the Entrance Gardens. Daffodils are coming up everywhere and are almost at peak. Pulmonaria (Lungwort) is just getting started along the Cherry Blossom Walk. Winter Aconite is winding down and taking its last bow.

Check the full bloom report graphic below for a complete status update on everything currently blooming across the gardens.

Photo of the full bloom report for this week.

We update our bloom report weekly. Follow along at https://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org to plan your visit.