May Horticultural Highlights

It is no wonder that Mount Auburn welcomes so many visitors each May. Flowering dogwoods, crabapples, lilacs, and azaleas are just some of what is on display. If you’ve never been to the Cemetery, now is the time to make your first visit!

What’s In Bloom: May

Hundreds of blooming trees, shrubs, and perennial plants make May an extraordinary time to visit Mount Auburn. Here are some of the May blooming plants that you can expect to find throughout our landscape:

COMMON NAME	BOTANICAL NAME	EARLY	MID	LATE
Adder’s Tongue	Erythronium sp.	x	x
Alpine Aster	Aster alpinus			x
Anemone	Anemone sp.	x	x	x
Autumn Olive	Elaeagnus umbellata		x	x
Azalea	Rhdodendron sp.		x	x
Barren Strawberry	Waldsteinia fragarioides	x	x	x
Bearberry Cotoneaster	Cotoneaster dammeri			x
Bearded Iris	Iris x germanica			x
Beauty Bush	Kolkwitzia amabilis			x
Big White Trillium	Trillium grandiflorum	x	x	x
Biokovo Cranesbill	Geranium cantabrigiense, 'Biokovo'			x
Bleeding Heart	Dicentra spectabilis	x	x	x
Bloody Cranesbill Geranium	Geranium sanguineum		x	x
Bluestar	Amsonia hubrichtii			x
Bradford Pear	Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford'	x
Bridal Wreath	Spiraea x vanhouttei			x
Candytuft	Iberis sempervirens	x	x	x
Cherry Laurel	Prunus laurocerasus		x	x
Chinese Nellia	Neillia sinensis			x
Columbine	Aquilegia canadensis		x	x
Common Smokebush	Cotinus coggygria			x
Crabapple varieties	Malus sp.	x	x	x
Creeping Forget-me-not	Omphalodes verna	x	x
Creeping Lilyturf	Liriope spicata		x	x
Creeping Myrtle	Vinca minor	x	x
Creeping Phlox	Phlox stolonifera		x	x
Daffodil	Narcissus sp.	x	x
Daphne cultivar	Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie'	x	x
Deutzia	Deutzia sp.			x
Double-file Viburnum	Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum		x	x
Dove Tree	Davidia involucrata		x
Dutchman’s Breeches	Dicentra cucullaria	x
Dwarf Crested Iris	Iris cristata	x	x
Empress Tree	Paulownia tomentosa			x
European Wild Ginger	Asarum europaem		x	x
False Soloman’s Seal	Maianthemum racemosum			x
Flame Azalea	Rhododendron calendulaceum			x
Flowering Dogwood	Cornus florida	x	x	x
Flowering Quince	Chaenomeles japonica	x	x	x
Foam Flower	Tiarella cordifolia	x	x	x
Forsythia	Forsythia sp.	x
Fothergilla	Fothergilla gardenii	x	x	x
Fragrant Sumac	Rhus aromatica	x	x	x
Gape Hyacinth	Muscari armeniacum	x	x	x
Giant Onion	Allium giganteum 'Globemaster'		x	x
Golden Alexander	Zizia aurea		x	x
Goldenchain Tree	Laburnum x watereri			x
Goldenseal	Hydrastis canadensis	x
Goldenstar	Chrysogonum virginianum		x	x
Grape Hyacinth	Muscari armeniacum	x	x
Heartleaf Bergenia	Bergenia cordifolia	x	x	x
Highbush Blueberry	Vaccinium corymbosum	x	x	x
Hobblebush	Viburnum lantanoides	x
Horsechestnut	Aesculus hippocastanum		x	x
Japanese Andromeda	Pieris japonica	x	x	x
Japanese Kerria	Kerria japonica	x	x	x
Japanese Spurge	Pachysandra terminalis	x	x	x
Jetbead	Rhodotypos scandens	x
Korean Azalea	Rhododendron poukhanensis		x	x
Korean Montain Ash	Sorbus alnifolia		x
Korean Rhododendron	Rhododendron mucronulatum	x
Korean Spicebush Viburnum	Viburnum carlesii	x	x
Kwanzan cherry	Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’	x	x
Large Bellwort	Uvularia grandiflora	x	x
Leatherleaf Viburnum	Viburnum rhytidophyllum		x	x
Lenten Rose	Helleborus	x	x	x
Leucothoe	Leucothoe fontanesiana		x	x
Lilac	Syringa patula	x	x	x
Lily-of-the-valley	Convallaria majalis		x	x
Lowbush Blueberry	Vaccinium angustifolium	x	x	x
Magnolia	Magnolia sp.	x
Mapleleaf Viburnum	Viburnum acerifolium		x	x
Mayapple	Podophyllum peltatum		x	x
Meserve Holly	Ilex x meserveae	x	x
Mountain Andromeda	Pieris floribunda	x	x	x
Nannyberry	Viburnum lentago		x	x
Oregon Grape	Mahonia aquifolium	x	x
P.J.M. Rhododendron	Rhododendron 'P.J.M.'	x
Pagoda Dogwood	Cornus alternifolia			x
Pearl Bush	Exochorda giraldii var. wilsonii	x	x
Pink Shell Azalea	Rhododendron vaseyi		x
Purple Trillium	Trillium erectum	x
Red Barrenwort	Epimedium x rubrum	x	x
Red Horsechestnut	Aesculus carnea 'Briotti'		x	x
Redbud	Cercis canadensis	x	x
Redvein Enkianthus	Enkianthus campanulatus			x
Rhododendron	Rhododendron 'Caronella'	x	x	x
Royal Azalea	Rhododendron schlippenbachii	x
Siberian Bugloss	Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'	x	x	x
Siberian Crabapple	Malus bacccata	x
Siebold Viburnum	Viburnum sieboldii		x	x
Silverbell	Halesia tetraptera	x	x
Snowball Viburnum	Viburnum plicatum ‘Grandiflorum’			x
Snowdrop Windflower	Anemone sylvestris	x
Soloman’s Seal	Polygonatum odoratum	x	x	x
Spanish Bluebell	Hyacinthoides hispanica		x	x
Spicebush	Lindera benzoin	x
Spiraea	Spiraea 'Grefsheim'	x	x
Spreading Cotoneaster	Cotoneaster divaricatus		x	x
Sweet Shrub	Calycanthus x raulstonii			x
Sweet Woodruff	Galium odoratum		x	x
Torch Azalea	Rhododendron kaempferi		x	x
Tree Peony	Paeonia ostii		x	x
Trillium	Trillium grandiflorum		x
Tulip	Tulipa sp.	x	x
Umbrella Magnolia	Magnolia tripetala			x
Ussurian Pear	Pyrus ussuriensis	x
Virginia Bluebell	Mertensia virginica	x	x
Wayfairing Tree	Viburnum lantana	x	x
Weeping Cherry	Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula’'	x
Weigela	Weigela florida		x	x
Wild Bleeding Heart	Dicentra eximia	x	x	x
Wild Ginger	Asarum canadense		x	x
Wild Indigo	Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight'			x
Wild Sarsaparilla	Aralia nudicaulis		x
Wisteria	Wisteria sp.		x	x
Yelloroot	Xanthoriza simplicissima	x	x	x
Yellow Archangel	Lamiastrum galeobdolon	x	x	x
Yellow Magnolia	Magnolia 'Elizabeth'	x	x	x
Yoshino Cherry	Prunus x yedoensis	x

Please remember that nature is unpredictable and that this blooming schedule is only a guide. A late spring can delay blooming by as much as two weeks. Depending on location within the Cemetery, some plants of the same variety may bloom up to several weeks apart.