All month long we celebrate the planting, care and preservation of trees. And on Friday April 30th, we have free admission day at the Cleveland Botanical Garden and the Holden Arboretum.
Category: HF&G Blog
Trees are for Bees!
By Caroline Paul, horticulturist, With this unseasonably beautiful weather we have been experiencing here in Northeast Ohio it is hard to ignore the loud knocks of spring…
Restoration. Rejuvenation. Fresh start. It’s time to get back in shape. It’s time to get pruning!
By Caroline Tait, Vice President of Horticulture and Collections, This spring sees the Sears Swetland Rose Garden, Topiary Garden and Alleé at Cleveland Botanical Garden start their transformation journeys.
Discovering the “True-Blue” Flowers of Spring
By Mark Bir, HF&G Horticulturistl Blue. Underneath that big, blue April sky the color blue nevertheless remains a rare gift when found in nature…
An Inside Look at Mapping HF&G Collections
By Ethan Johnson, HF&G Plant Records Curator, This March Margeaux Apple and I are focusing on one of my favorite tasks, cartography. I love maps. Maps are useful for orientation and for planning.
How HF&G Staff Use Prescribed Burns to Manage Grounds
By Annie Rzepka, Director of Arboretum Horticulture, Probably one of the most exciting things that we do every spring here at the Arboretum is a prescribed burn. Prescribed burns are basically planned fires that are used to help manage…
Have you heard of the Moses Cleaveland trees?
By Margeaux Apple, HF&G Plant Recorder, In 1796, Moses Cleaveland landed on the banks of the Cuyahoga River and surveyed the land that would later bear his name (with a slight spelling adjustment)…
Behind-the-Scenes Photos from an HF&G Gardener
By Bernadette Gallagher, HF&G Gardener, One of my favorite things about working at the Cleveland Botanical Garden is all the things I get to see. The plants and trees are a highlight of course, but there is so much more!
A New Paradigm in Flower Arranging
By Lorinda Laughlin, HF&G Gardener, In early 2020, the Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) in the UK announced it will be banning the use of floral foam at all of its events beginning in 2021, including the world-renowned and highly influential…
Holden Scientists and Volunteers Gear Up for Spring in the Forest
By Katie Stuble, HF&G Scientist, I had a moment of panic last week. It was the crocuses that did me in, if you can believe it! Well, the crocuses and climate change. I’m a scientist, and an experiment was on the line.
HF&G Celebrates International Day of Forests
By Rachel Kappler, HF&G Forest Health Coordinator, March 21st is not only the spring solstice but also International Day of Forests, a day of awareness and celebration of our forests started by the United Nations General Assembly.
Got Gnats? Sundews to the Rescue!
By Rob Dzurec, Horticulturist, This time of year, we begin propagating plants for the coming summer. And whether growing by seed or cutting, potting media needs to be kept uniformly moist to get the plants off to a good start…
Holden Scientists were Wildly Curious about Wild Leek
By Sarah Kyker, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The old growth remnant forests in Stebbins Gulch are locations at Holden Arboretum that David Burke and his lab have been studying for years…
Behind-the-Scenes Look at Storm Damage Recovery Work
By Rick Anielski, Arborist, I think we can all say that the storm we experienced back in early December is still weighing heavy on our minds, especially since the damage it caused is still quite evident…
Which Witch Hazel? – Sorting Through Hamamelidaceae Species During Winter Months
By Brian Gibbons, Director of Gardens and Glasshouse at botanical garden, In Northeast Ohio, and other regions of the country with similar climate, winter holds trees and shrubs accountable for their actions. One family is resilient, or defiant, refusing to hold back when the temperature dips into the thermometer’s lower spectrum.
Beneficial Insects in the Holden Nursery
By Alyssa Zearley, My name is Alyssa and I started working at the Holden Arboretum as a nursery technician in January. I help with all parts of plant growing, but my specialty is pest management. I was brought on to help increase the effectiveness and sustainability of the nursery’s pest management program
A Deep Dive into Bleeding Hearts
By Becah Troutman, HF&G Natural Areas Biologist, As Valentine’s Day comes and goes, one can’t help but be reminded of the Bleeding Heart plant (Lamprocapnos spectabilis). It is a beautiful plant originally from Asia with a tragic love story behind it.
Harnessing microbiomes in crabapples: II. Getting seeds for testing microbiome functions
Plants are associated with numerous microorganisms in the wild. Some of these microorganisms are beneficial but others, such as pathogens, can be harmful to plants. Thus, maintaining a healthy microbiome is key to plant health.
Holden Forests & Gardens Launches People for Trees
One of the most significant things we can do to combat the effects of a changing climate right here in Northeast Ohio is to plant a tree. Holden Forests & Gardens (HF&G) is launching a new initiative called People for Trees to make it easier for each of us to get involved with this solution.
Appreciating the Beauty of Winter
By Dawn Gerlica, Lantern Court Horticulturist, While it’s easy to get caught up in the negatives of below normal temperatures and the work of shoveling out after a winter storm, there are still many things to find outside that are beautiful.