Set on twenty-five acres adjacent to Rock Creek Park, Hillwood’s gardens feature a diverse and fascinating array of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, offering something to see in every season. 

Plants to note in the gardens:

• Autumn has come to the gardens and the seasonal display is in transition too. Almost seven thousand plants are being added to the gardens including over two thousand chrysanthemums. A dazzling mix of six different yellows and oranges will be featured in the French parterre. Chrysanthemum cultivars can have different blooming times (i.e. early through very late). The mix in the French parterre consists of mid-season to very late bloomers, creating an extended show.
• The cutting garden is also a feast for the eyes. Staff and volunteers harvest weekly but there is so much to see. The sulfur cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) is just stunning and has filled the garden with bright yellow and orange flowers. This warm season annual is a heavy reseeder at Hillwood and staff no longer buy seed and just let mother nature take its course. High soil fertility due to yearly composting allows this Mexican native reach to nearly six feet tall.  
• The roses in the rose garden have rebounded nicely after the tough summer weather and many are in bloom. In particular, 'Tupelo Honey™' has many buds ready to open. The warm yellow flowers stand out vividly against the dark green foliage. 'Tupelo Honey™' is a fast, vigorous grower reaching five feet tall even after being cut back in the spring. This cultivar was added to the garden in 2023 because of its superior disease resistance. Hillwood’s rose garden is maintained organically without traditional pesticides. 

Highlights in the greenhouse:

• Among the various orchids blooming, one particular slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum praestans) is a beauty. The flower sports dark magenta striping on a yellow backdrop ending in an elongated pouch kissed with pink. The long twisted petals have ridges along the edges giving them an almost thorny look. The pouch looks like a slipper which provides its common name. Paphiopedilum praestans is a warm growing terrestrial orchid from New Guinea.
• A lovely vanda hybrid orchid (Rhynchorides Bangkok Sunset x Ascocenda Wilas 'Old Rose Lip') is hanging in the doorway of the orchid west house. The soft rose red flowers have a vibrant florescent purple lip. These orchids are grown without a true pot and can be distinguished by their long, hanging root systems. The plant has a monopodial growth habit meaning that it grows upright from a single stem. The flower spike emerges from the axil of the leaf, referring to the point where the leaf meets the stem.
• Towering overhead, you may get a glimpse of an upside-down orchid (Stanhopea Ronsard). These interesting plants produce pendulous yellow flowers with maroon spots that push out of the bottom of their pots! Special growing baskets allow space for the flower stem development. These fragrant flowers only last a few days, but multiple flower spikes can form over the summer. This is a hybrid of two species found from Mexico down to South America. See if you can catch one in bloom.