Get Growing Blog
Connecting people with the wonder, beauty, and value of trees and plants.
Most Recent
October 17, 2022
Jesse Owens Olympic Oak Sapling Planted at James Ford Rhodes High School where Owens Planted Original Tree 80 Years Ago
Last week, a propagated sapling was planted by Holden Forests & Gardens’ Tree Corps at James Ford Rhodes High School where Owens practiced track and field. The sapling was grown... more
October 13, 2022
An Inside Look at the Global Botanic Gardens Congress
By Connor Ryan, MS, Rhododendron Collections Manager
By Connor Ryan, HF&G Rhododendron Collections Manager The last week of September I attended the 7th Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Melbourne, Australia. This is a semi-regular meeting of botanic... more
October 11, 2022
Jesse Owens Olympic Oak Tree Continues to take Root this Fall with New Documentary and Grafted Sapling Next to Site of Original Tree
Eighty-five years ago, a priceless oak tree was planted by Jesse Owens in Cleveland at James Ford Rhodes High School, a symbol of athletic and cultural triumph. This fall, a... more
October 7, 2022
Science on Friday: Why are there bags on the Rhododendrons?
Why public gardens are both beautiful and useful too. Jean H. Burns, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University If you have walked around Holden Arboretum in the... more
October 6, 2022
The Much-Maligned Goldenrods
By Dawn Gerlica, Senior Horticulturist
Ahh-choo! It’s the end-of-summer hay fever season once again and people are feeling it. The poor goldenrod is often blamed, so it’s time for me to get on my soapbox... more
September 30, 2022
Trivia Answers and Farewell to Mushroom Month
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff, MS, Research Specialist
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff September is ending and fall is in full swing. As the leaves on the trees start to change and the wind turns chilly, we bid farewell to... more
September 23, 2022
Inside a Scientific Conference: Mycological Society of America
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff, MS, Research Specialist
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff Every year in July the mycologists of America converge for a week of academic talks, scientific posters, riveting discussions about fungal biology, and professional networking. This year,... more
September 15, 2022
For the Love of Fungi: an ode to the amateur mycologist
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff, MS, Research Specialist
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff Mycology, or the study of fungi, is a small but growing field. For many of us career mycologists this has been a curious but fantastic trend to... more
September 12, 2022
Growing Figs
By Matt Edwards, Animal Care Specialist
Figs have been cultivated for thousands of years and are one of the earliest plants to have been cultivated. They are originally from warm climates in western Asia and the... more
September 8, 2022
Connecting Above- and Below-Ground Worlds
By Sarah Kyker, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate
by Sarah Kyker We are continuing to celebrate National Mushroom Month at HF&G all September long! Today, we want to appreciate fungi even when they are not fruiting. While mushrooms... more
September 2, 2022
Mushroom Month Trivia
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff, MS, Research Specialist
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff September is one of our favorite months in the Holden Forests & Gardens Soil Ecology lab. Why? Because it is National Mushroom Month. Many people celebrate National... more
August 29, 2022
Welcome to Holden, Chelsea!
Dr. Chelsea Miller is a new postdoc, hosted by Holden to explore range dynamics of spring ephemeral wildflowers. Interested in possible career pathways in the world of public gardens, Chelsea... more
August 29, 2022
Core Natural Areas Recent History
By Annie Rzepka, Director of Arboretum Horticulture One of the many reasons HF&G is unique is that one membership affords a matrix of high quality natural and cultivated landscape experiences... more
August 26, 2022
Can I save my beech tree? And other beech care questions, answered
By David J. Burke, PhD, Vice President for Science and Conservation
You asked, and Holden Forest & Garden’s beech tree expert, David Burke, answered. By David Burke & Anna Funk If you live anywhere near northeastern Ohio, you may have noticed... more
August 26, 2022
Why you should trim your beech trees in September
By David J. Burke, PhD, Vice President for Science and Conservation
By: David Burke & Anna Funk Beech trees looking a little rough? Ours, too. Beech leaf disease is prevalent in our area. You’ll know it by the green stripes (called... more
August 25, 2022
Inside an Ecology Conference
By Emma Dawson-Glass , Research Specialist
Participating in conferences is one of the best and most fun ways to learn about current scientific findings and connect with people in your field. This past week, Alexa Wagner... more
August 24, 2022
Spotted Lanternfly
By Bernadette Gallagher, Gardener
The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula, is an invasive leafhopper making its way into our region. Originally from China, India, and Vietnam, it is thought to have made its way stateside... more
August 24, 2022
A Prickly Foe
By Lorinda Laughlin, Gardener
I’ve learned many things working as a Gardener here at the Arboretum, particularly regarding the importance of promoting and maintaining biodiversity. Much of what I’ve learned I have tried to... more
August 24, 2022
Milkweed: Beneficial and Beautiful
By Lori Gogolin, Horticulturist
Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) are beneficial host plants for the Monarch butterflies. The plant provides the adult female Monarch with a place to lay her eggs. Once those eggs hatch the... more
August 24, 2022
Playing in the Mud
By Dawn , Senior Horticulturist
If anyone was out in the arboretum’s Myrtle S. Holden Wildflower Garden on the afternoon of July 20, 2022, you might have heard a commotion – a lot of grunting... more
August 24, 2022
Lip Sumac-ing Good: Wonderful, and Edible Sumac
By Heather Wade, Gardener
Peeking up above the Echinacea, Phlox, and turtlehead in the Holden Arboretum’s, Arlene and Arthur S. Holden Jr. Butterfly Garden are the bright red, cone-shape infructescence of the staghorn sumac.... more
August 12, 2022
Bird Banding & Beech Leaf Disease
By Mike Watson, Conservation Biologist
Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) was first documented in 2012 in Lake County, Ohio and has now been found in 17 of Ohio’s counties, 10 states, and in Canada. BLD can... more
July 22, 2022
Holden’s Clone Orchard Vital Research Spot for Ash Scientists
By Rachel Kappler, PhD, Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative (GLB FHC) Coordinator
At the Holden Arboretum, out behind the Long Science Center, there’s an orchard. But you won’t find any fruit trees there, they’re all ash. In fact, each of these ash... more
July 20, 2022
Hidden Gems of the Forest
By Danny Wylie, Gardener
If you don’t find me in a garden, chances are I will be off for a hike somewhere in the woods. Botany is the core of who I am, and... more
July 20, 2022
The Ann Whitney Memorial Bed
By Sandi Cesarov, Horticulturist
The Magic Garden Not everyone knows where it is. It was recently called magical by my exceedingly intelligent seasonal gardener, Mikaela. A day later, our equally intelligent intern, Eliza, also... more
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