Get Growing Blog
Connecting people with the wonder, beauty, and value of trees and plants.
Most Recent
March 9, 2022
Hey Cleveland! Grow your own Fruit and Vegetable Garden
By Sandi Cesarov, Horticulturist
Indoor Seed Starting for Beginners As I mentioned in a previous post for Holden Forests and Gardens, I spend my winter months planning out the upcoming garden season. I learned... more
February 24, 2022
Eagles in Town
By Matt Edwards, Animal Care Specialist
As many people know, Ohio’s bald eagle population has seen a dramatic increase over the past several decades. From a low of 4 breeding pairs in 1979 they had increased... more
February 23, 2022
Decoding the scent of flowers
Holden Forests & Gardens Scientist Na Wei, Ph.D., and her collaborators from Oakland University andthe University of Pittsburgh decoded the scent of flowers and its influence on flower microbes. Flowers... more
February 17, 2022
A story of becoming a scientist in the United States
By Na Wei, PhD, Scientist, Evolutionary Ecology Getting a PhD degree is never easy and perhaps more difficult for international students. One of the challenges that many international students face... more
February 15, 2022
Index Seminum, What is it?
By Greg Wright, Nursery Manager
You may not be aware that Holden Forests and Gardens participates in Index Seminum. You may be asking “what is Index Seminum”? It is Latin for “Seed Index”. Botanical gardens,... more
February 10, 2022
Thinking About Annual Plants in the Winter
By Hilary Wright, Horticulturist
Right now, as I write this at nearly the end of January, there is over a foot of snow on the ground. To keep my spirits lifted, the early months... more
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, Director of Research
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
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