Get Growing Blog
Connecting people with the wonder, beauty, and value of trees and plants.
Most Recent
September 8, 2025
Ongoing HF&G Study Tests a Novel Way to Give Urban Tree Plantings a Boost
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
Planting trees in cities can bring a host of benefits. They pull pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air, cool neighborhoods, reduce stormwater runoff, and make streets more inviting... more
September 4, 2025
Moths on the Move
By M Onion, Plant Propogator
My job at Holden Forests & Gardens as the propagator is to produce and take care of baby plants. That often involves going out into the gardens and natural areas... more
August 28, 2025
Fall Days, Fresh Displays: Celebrate the Season and a New Skeleton Installation at Holden Arboretum
(KIRTLAND) August 28, 2025 – When it comes to fall, the Holden Arboretum has it all! The season begins with a new signature exhibit, Skeleton Grove, featuring nearly a dozen... more
August 28, 2025
Veterans Find Healing in the Beehives at Cleveland Botanical Garden
By Terri White, Grants & Communications Specialist
Our fascination with bees is as old as time itself. The Paleolithic cave art in Spain shows honey hunters perched on cliff faces 10,000 years ago. In ancient Egypt, the... more
July 30, 2025
Discover What Happens Behind the Scenes at Holden at the 10th Annual SEARCH Symposium
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
Curious about what goes on behind the scenes at Holden Forests & Gardens? The 10th annual Symposium for Ecological Research (SEARCH) offers a window into the real work happening across... more
July 17, 2025
It’s Poppin’: July 17
By Tom Arbour, M.En., Curator of Living Collections
It’s summer! Did you enjoy the long holiday weekend? If you took time off from visiting our campuses, now is the time to come back, as our summer wildflowers are... more
July 8, 2025
Holden Forests & Gardens Launches Flora Finder Tool to Bring Thousands of Its Plants to Your Fingertips
KIRTLAND, Ohio (July 8, 2025) — Holden Forests & Gardens announces the launch of Flora Finder, a new interactive, web-based tool that makes exploring the plants across Holden’s campuses easier... more
July 3, 2025
It’s Poppin’: July 3
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
Happy 4th of July! There’s plenty to see out in the gardens this weekend, with milkweeds, black-eyed Susans, and a host of other mid-summer favorites in bloom. Cleveland Botanical Garden... more
June 20, 2025
It’s Poppin’: June 20
Hot and sticky weather arrived this week! This week I teamed with Angelica Vasilatos, Ferry Foundation curation intern at the Botanical Garden, to detail what’s poppin’ in Kirtland and Cleveland. ... more
June 17, 2025
Get to Know Forest Forms Artist, Huelani Mei
If you’ve been to the Holden Arboretum recently, you’ve probably seen the bright and beautiful sculptures of the Forest Forms exhibit standing out against our green landscapes. They were created... more
June 13, 2025
It’s Poppin’: June 13
By Tom Arbour, M.En., Curator of Living Collections
As I walked the campuses this week, I was struck by the number of beautiful, calming white blooms. Before we move into the heat of the summer, let’s take a... more
June 11, 2025
Celebrating Forest Stewardship at the 4th Annual Working Woods Field Day
By Annie Weight, Forestry Outreach Fellow
On Saturday, June 7th, nearly a hundred forest lovers from across our region – from Franklin County, OH to Erie County, PA – gathered for the fourth annual Working Woods... more
June 6, 2025
It’s Poppin’: June 6
By Tom Arbour, M.En., Curator of Living Collections
After a few weeks on a plant expedition to China, it was my pleasure to stroll the grounds of the Holden Arboretum and Cleveland Botanical Garden to see what was... more
May 29, 2025
It’s Poppin’: May 29
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
Cleveland Botanical Garden Last Saturday was the opening day of our summer exhibit Between Water and Stone, a 50th anniversary celebration of our Japanese Garden. When you step out onto... more
May 23, 2025
It’s Poppin’: May 23
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
It’s been a strange couple of weeks weather-wise—remember when it was 80 degrees and sunny, and now it’s rainy and chilly? No matter! The cool weather actually helps prolong the... more
May 15, 2025
It’s Poppin’: May 15
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
This week, the Rhododendron Gardens at the arboretum are in their full glory, and flowers are lighting up various pockets and corners at the botanical gardens. With the recent rain... more
May 13, 2025
Finding Familiar Roots in the Forests of China
By Tom Arbour, M.En., Curator of Living Collections
I’m about to embark on an exciting adventure to explore China, home to incredibly diverse deciduous forests that look remarkably like our own. Holden Forests & Gardens is a founding member... more
May 13, 2025
Cleveland Botanical Garden Rings in Summer with Japanese Garden’s 50th Anniversary and a Series of Engaging Events & Exhibits
The Cleveland Botanical Garden bursts into vibrant life this summer with an exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of our Japanese Garden, new experiences in the Hershey Children’s Garden and stunning... more
May 8, 2025
It’s Poppin’: May 8
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
The photos speak for themselves this week—it’s definitely poppin’ out there! The arboretum really shines in May with fragrant lilacs blooming in the Display Garden and rhododendrons of every color... more
May 5, 2025
How Data-Driven Conservation Fledged 30,000+ Native Birds at Holden Arboretum
By Mike Watson, Conservation Biologist
The bluebird program at Holden reached a milestone in 2024: 60 years of continuous conservation and data collection. This history is marked by clear successes in the effort to support... more
May 2, 2025
It’s Poppin’: May 2
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
Welcome back to It’s Poppin! This week in the gardens, time is flying—some of the trees and shrubs we highlighted just last week, like fragrant viburnums and serviceberries, have already... more
May 1, 2025
Surround Yourself in Summer Fun at the Holden Arboretum with the new Forest Forms Exhibit, Live Outdoor Concerts, and more!
(KIRTLAND) April 29, 2025 – The Holden Arboretum kicks off the summer season with a new exhibit, Forest Forms, a calendar full of events, and gorgeous grounds for exploring. All... more
April 29, 2025
New Study Confirms Beech Leaf Disease Threatens European Beech Trees, Too
KIRTLAND, OHIO — A new study from Holden Forests & Gardens and a team at USDA Agricultural Research Service confirms that beech leaf disease—a fast-spreading disease already devastating American beech... more
April 28, 2025
Study Shows Forest Soils Still Bear the Scars of Industrial Pollution
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
KIRTLAND, OHIO — After 12 years of carefully tracking tree growth and soil chemistry, researchers at Holden Forests & Gardens (HF&G) have confirmed that phosphorus is now a limiting nutrient... more
April 28, 2025
A New Way to Detect Beech Leaf Disease: Rainwater Running Down Tree Trunks
KIRTLAND, OHIO — How do you detect a pathogen that lives way, way up in a tree’s canopy? A novel method for detecting beech leaf disease from the ground—using rainwater... more
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