Get Growing Blog
Connecting people with the wonder, beauty, and value of trees and plants.
Most Recent
February 10, 2022
Get to know a scientist: Connor Ryan
By: Emma Dawson-Glass, Research Specialist Where do plants come from? No, we’re not talking about the birds and the bees or the sun and the soil. Many of our favorite... more
February 9, 2022
Rebloom, Reuse, Relax- Get your Orchids to Rebloom
By Caroline Watson, Horticulturist
People love orchids. Their unique complexity yet open simplicity make them truly enchanting. Which is why, even though they can be tricky to maintain for the long term, they are... more
February 7, 2022
Winter Interests
By Sommer Tolan, Horticulturist
As the ground begins to freeze and we turn inward, or into a pile of blankets and chamomile tea, certain flora make their way to the forefront of the landscape,... more
January 28, 2022
Evidence Based Gardening
By Connor Ryan, MS, Rhododendron Collections Manager
By Connor Ryan, Rhododendron Collections Manager Lots of plants have problems in landscapes. Perhaps your Colorado spruce (Picea pungens) is losing all its lower leaves. Or your rhododendron’s stems keep... more
January 24, 2022
10 Most Important Questions about Winter Herbicide Applications
By Rob Maganja, Horticulturist
In the Horticulture Department, we take advantage of slower-paced winter days to do dormant cut-stump herbicide applications on invasive woody plants. There are other methods to treat larger-diameter trees, but... more
January 20, 2022
Birds and Berries
By: Alyssa Zearley, Nursery Technician Berries are an important winter food source for animals. This is especially true for songbirds. While some birds like cedar waxwings eat fruit all year... more
January 20, 2022
Biome Bounty
By: Bernadette Gallagher, Gardener Did you know we grow quite a few plants that have edible fruit in our Costa Rica biome? It is exciting watching things grow and ripen,... more
January 20, 2022
What’s the (Compost) Tea?: Hot-and-Bothered by the Cold Brew
By: Rob Maganja, Horticulturist Compost tea is one of the mythological potions of horticulture. I can just imagine bottles of it on the refrigerated shelf in Whole Foods, somewhere between... more
January 20, 2022
To Plant or Not to Plant? The Low-Down on Fabric Containers
By Courtney Keinath, Gardener
Over the past few years, you may have noticed what seems to be a growing trend in the horticulture industry. Whether you’ve seen them at your local nursery, an urban... more
January 14, 2022
Mushroom Identification: Results from the Holden Forests & Gardens Mushroom Month Foray!
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff, MS, Research Specialist
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff Relative to plants and animals, identifying fungi presents unique challenges. First, the kingdom fungi is extremely species rich. While nearly 100,000 species of fungi have been discovered... more
January 11, 2022
A look back on 2021 in Plant Records at Holden
By Margeaux Apple, Plant Recorder
January February March April May June July August September October November December more
December 30, 2021
Winter Birding at the Arboretum
The forests and gardens transition into a pristine, white canvas in winter- an ideal backdrop for spotting many types of birds that spend the winter season on the property. Here are... more
December 16, 2021
Get to know a scientist: Alexa Wagner
By Emma Dawson-Glass, Research Specialist Scientists as a demographic are often viewed as a mythic group—the keepers of knowledge, uniquely capable of understanding complex systems, destined to their career choice... more
December 2, 2021
Healthy Soils have a Healthy Dose of Decomposition: Celebrating World Soil Day
By Sarah Kyker, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate
By: Sarah Kyker, Emma Dawson-Glass, Katie Stuble, and David Burke December 5th marks World Soil Day. World Soil Day began in 2014, initiated by the United Nations, to focus attention... more
November 30, 2021
Winter is Wonderful
By Margaret Thresher, Vice President of Public Relations & Marketing
Winter in Northeast Ohio is underrated. The average temperature in November is 50 degrees, December is 40 degrees and January is 35 degrees. Approximately 10 days a month are sunny... more
November 16, 2021
People for Trees: Planting One Tree at a Time to Make a Big Impact
By Margaret Cook, Communications Specialist
In its first year, People for Trees has gathered more than 1,000 pledges to plant more than 3,800 trees across Greater Cleveland. In addition, Holden Forests & Gardens has planted... more
November 1, 2021
When to Plant a Tree
Certain types of trees are generally recommended to be planted in spring and not in fall, especially after early October. If a tree was dug in late summer, or planted... more
October 29, 2021
At Holden, Our Resilient Forests Are Also Laboratories
By Katie Stuble, PhD, Research Chair
At Holden Forests & Gardens, we’re pretty excited about trees. And, we’ve got a lot of them! In addition to the thousands of trees in our gardens and collections, the... more
October 28, 2021
Autumn Gardening for Nature Lovers; Leave the Leaves
By Stefanie Verish, Horticulturist, CBG
The birds, the blooms, the butterflies…but also the bees, the mushrooms, the ravenous deer, the slime mold sprawled across your mulch… As gardeners, we take it all in—the good, the... more
October 27, 2021
Foraging for Health
By Alyssa Zearley, Nursery Technician
Cold, flu, and now, perhaps, COVID season, are rapidly approaching. Which means it’s also elderberry syrup season. For those not familiar, elderberry syrup is a concoction of elderberry, honey, and... more
October 25, 2021
Selecting Trees in Northeast Ohio
HF&G has developed a tree selection guide that provides essential information to help you choose climate-resilient trees suitable for urban and suburban areas in northeast Ohio. Click the link below... more
October 22, 2021
Great scientists are made, not born
By Juliana S. Medeiros, PhD, Plant Biologist
We’ve all heard the story; a famous scientist is asked how they got interested in their subject area and they say something like “I’ve always loved sea otters and wanted... more
October 7, 2021
Tips for Keeping Trees Healthy
Very few trees die of old age in residential or urban areas—mechanical damage and improper care pose huge threats to trees. If you don’t listen carefully to what your tree... more
October 3, 2021
The Avon-on-the-Lake Garden Club is saving Monarch Butterflies
Members of the Avon-on-the-Lake Garden Club are doing their part to save as many Monarch butterflies as possible. The group recently began a conservation project, initiated by President Elaine George,... more
October 1, 2021
Beech Leaf Disease and Forest Fungi: Healthy trees support healthy fungal communities
By Claudia Bashian-Victoroff, MS, Research Specialist
Arboreta play an active role in studying a wide range of tree diseases and the pathogens and parasites that cause them. Holden is no exception. Work from our arboretum and... more
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