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 greenhouse:

• It seems like the greenhouses are already gearing up for Orchid month in March with numerous orchids coming into bloom. Make sure to note a very large-flowered slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum Wayne Booth ‘Orchidheights’ x moquetteanum ‘Wolf Lake’) in the orchid west house. Showing traits from multiple species, this hybrid manifests flowers that form a very pleasing triangular shape with a pronounced pouch and dorsal sepal. The twisted petals are covered in spots and hairs. 
• Our own award-winning dendrobium orchid (Dendrobium Specio-kingianum ‘Memoria Nina Sue’) has come into flower in the cymbidium house. Though smaller in stature than other dendrobiums in our collection, it packs a punch with lots of unique magenta-colored flowers. The strong upright canes on the plant are an adaptation for water storage. Specio-kingianum is a hybrid of two species native to Australia, Dendrobium kingianum and Dendrobium speciosum.
• Orchid flowers can come in many forms and a very fascinating flower is the spider orchid (Brassidium Gilded Urchin 'Halo'). The long petals and sepals look like spider legs with the flat lip and column serving as the body. The form is believed to attract pollinators. The flower lures in spider-hunting wasps that then come in contact and spread its pollen. Gilded Urchin ‘Halo’ was developed by crossing two different genera (Brassia and Oncidium) from the western hemisphere.

Highlights in the garden:

• The containers and seasonal beds around the campus have taken on their winter appearance. Evergreen shrubs and perennials create interest but, in several areas, the violas and pansies are still going strong. At the putting green, small mugho pines (Pinus mugo ‘Sherwood Compact’) are surrounded with shore junipers (Juniperus conferta 'Blue Pacific'), sedges (Carex oshimensis 'Everillo') and violas (Viola ‘Sorbet White Blotch). Vigorous pansies can be found at the south side of the mansion and Friendship Walk too. 
• Blue wood asters (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) are still in bloom down in the native garden. Light blue, daisy-like flowers with yellow centers develop into panicles along a central stem. As the flower ages, the center can take on a purple hue. As this Mid-Atlantic native often grows to four feet tall, it works well as a middle or back of bed perennial. To maintain form and reduce staking, asters can be pruned back by 2/3 in early summer to keep them compact. 
• In the Lunar Lawn bed by the Dacha, there is a clump of flowering Pacific chrysanthemum (Ajania pacifica). This unique perennial has rich green leaves outlined in white. Late in the year, little yellow, button flowers appear at the top of the stiff stems. Though recently moved out of the genus Chrysanthemum, the plant can be treated as such and cut back early in the season to produce a fuller form. The Pacific chrysanthemum thrives in well drained soils like those in rock gardens or on the edges of a flower border.