Holden Forests & Gardens Blog
June 24, 2022
A virtual tour of the natural areas used by the research department
By Emma Dawson-Glass, Research Specialist
Beyond its curated collections, the Holden Arboretum also retains many natural areas. In fact, most of the Holden Arboretum property is made up of natural areas, with 3,000 acres out of a total of 3,600 acres of the Arboretum property being made up of natural areas. These natural areas are a vital resource to researchers and allows us to study a wide breadth of Northeast Ohio habitats. In these natural areas we study everything from community assembly, to responses to restoration and management, to the impacts of global change disturbances such as climate change, invasive species, acid rain, and novel diseases. Below, we highlight a few of the many natural area field sites that scientists in the Research Department use for study.
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June 22, 2022
Invertebrates in the Garden
By Hilary Wright , Horticulturist
June brings a plethora of gardening tasks – weeding and mulching at the top of the list. Most, if not all, require one’s hands to be plunged into the earth all day. Working that closely with soil reveals itself as a tiny world bustling with activity that you may not have realized before. An entire ecosystem literally in the palms of your hands.
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June 22, 2022
The Rose Garden Challenge
By Stefanie Verish, Horticulturist
I knew what I was in for. It is no secret that roses maintain a reputation of fussiness and difficulty in maintenance. When I was given charge of the Svetland Rose Garden in fall of last year, I theorized that following the set plan of pest management, fertilization, and watering schedules would insure me success.
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June 21, 2022
Behind-the-Scenes of the Cleveland Botanical Garden's Newest Exhibit
We caught up with artist Rachel Hayes for a Q&A about the Cleveland Botanical Garden’s stunning new summer exhibit Awake in Every Sense opening Saturday, June 25th
What can visitors expect when they come to see your installation at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens?
Graphic site-lines of color are installed throughout the gardens to highlight interesting points, long distances, and keep the eyes searching while walking the various trails. The sewn works will interact with the weather on any given day. The work may be gently swaying with the wind, or catch light dappling through the trees. When I am with my work outdoors, and notice these small moments of interaction, I become more present and in the moment, and I hope others have unique experiences as well, even if they are fleeting.
How did the plants and trees in the outdoor gardens inspire you?
The botanical garden provides a distinctive environment for me to respond to, including impressive tree heights, dynamic angles, and a rich color palette. This is an exhilarating way to work as an artist, because I am not starting with a ‘blank canvas’, rather I am presented with a different set of opportunities and constraints to consider, as well as taking the weather into account. I won’t be using any poles or trusses, and I’ll go to great lengths to minimize my footprint.
I also thought about how all the colors will interact with nature’s palette of greens and earth tones. I think it will be striking, not unlike seeing blooms or sunsets peeking through the landscape. We are letting the trees dictate where the work hangs, since we are depending on them for their strength and height, while of course, taking good care to be gentle.
What do you love most about plants and trees?
The trees and plants are delightful follies to collaborate with, and as much as we (installation team) plan how the installation will go, I am sure we will also be using our intuition and beautiful moments that we can’t even anticipate are sure to reveal themselves. This is what I love most about working with and around plants and trees. We will be working in the present, and in the moment together.
Rachel Hayes was born in Kansas City, Missouri and lives and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hayes received her BFA in Fiber from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her MFA in Painting from Virginia Commonwealth University. Often using fabric to create large-scale work, she is interested in inserting color and form into both built and natural environments. She is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Award in Painting and Sculpture, Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial Fellowship in Sculpture, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship in Sculpture, Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture, and a Charlotte Street Fund Award. Hayes has collaborated with the Italian fashion house Missoni, culminating with a solo exhibition during Milan Design Week. Her work has been covered by The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Cut, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Artforum among others.
June 16, 2022
New Eastern Hemlock Conservation Work Kicks Off at Holden
By Rachel Kappler, Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative (GLB FHC) Coordinator
Researchers across the country are interested in learning more about forest pests that threaten our native tree species. Populations of eastern hemlock, found across Appalachia, New England, and the Great Lakes, are faced with two different insect pests, hemlock woolly adelgid and elongate hemlock scale, that have killed nearly 80 percent of hemlocks in some areas.
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June 9, 2022
A Virtual Tour of the Collections used by the Research Department
By Emma Dawson-Glass, Research Specialist
One of the greatest benefits of being a researcher at an arboretum is being able to access curated plant collections. Often, these collections have a well recorded history and can be sourced from all over the world. As such, researchers can ask many questions about plants, ranging from their evolutionary adaptions to their future responses to novel global change threats (like disease and climate change). Here, we highlight some of the collections at the Holden Arboretum that scientists in the Research Department use for study.
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June 7, 2022
Rhododendrons in Bloom
By Sommer Tolan , Horticulturist
It’s interesting to observe the variation in rhododendron and azalea bloom times from year to year. Especially here in Ohio, where we’re not sure if snow or rain will be part of our day in early spring. This sets the tone for how the buds are preserved for their unveiling. This year, the rhododendrons had an erratic start, with some only blooming near the bottom of the plants where the buds were shielded from the cold. Then the heat came, and the buds burst so quickly on some plants that they fizzled out much faster than usual.
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June 6, 2022
Geums
By By Annie Rzepka Budziak, Director of Arboretum Horticulture
Geum, commonly known as avens, is a genus in the rose family. These perennials boast charming warm colored flowers in late spring and early summer. The cherry blossoms add a pop of color to the garden, either as a specimen or incorporated into a mixed perennial border. Several Geum can be found in our collections at the Arboretum and some of our favorites are featured below.
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June 3, 2022
2022 Holden Summer Intern Program
By Emma Dawson-Glass, Research Specialist
The HF&G’s Research, Community Forestry and Conservation teams are excited about the arrival of the 2022 cohort of interns. This year, HF&G leverages resources and opportunities across departments and campuses to allow our interns gain the finest in knowledge, experience, and skills for future career success.
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June 2, 2022
Cleveland Botanical Garden Kicks Off the Summer Season with a Large-scale Outdoor Art Installation, Returning Popular Summer Events, and Blooming Gardens
Cleveland Botanical Garden Kicks Off the Summer Season with a Large-scale Outdoor Art Installation, Returning Popular Summer Events, and Blooming Gardens
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May 31, 2022
Keeping It Organized
By Greg Wright, Nursery Manager
“Most plants that are planted on the grounds at Holden Forests & Gardens, especially at the Arboretum spend time in the nursery. Many plants we propagate here, but we also purchase some in from growers both near and far. These plants may be here from a few weeks to a few years depending on their end use.” Learn more about the organization process Nursery Manager, Greg Wright goes through with plants in the Nursery.
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May 26, 2022
Electronic Herbaria Data Applications, a Prelude to Study Eastern Redcedar Encroachment in the US Great Plains and Midwest
By Hector Ortiz , Postdoctoral Researcher
Talking about herbarium data is like entering a time machine that transports me back to a small room where I spent hours searching through plant specimens that were collected 100 years ago. While completing my Master’s degree, I spent hours collecting data from specimens stored in carboard boxes at the little herbarium of the arid land studies campus of the Autonomous University of Chapingo in the Chihuahuan desert. A few years after digging through those specimen boxes, I visited my colleague, Wendy Hodgson, at the Desert Botanical Garden herbarium. After enjoying a sip of mescal while talking about her research on Agaves and Native Americans, she introduced me for the first time to an electronic herbaria database the SEINet Arizona-New Mexico chapter, which later I used for my doctoral research.
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May 25, 2022
Ikebana Exhibition 2022
The Ohara School of Ikebana emphasizes the Japanese aesthetics of asymmetry and empty space, beauty of natural scenery, harmony between materials, container and setting. Over a dozen floral designs by the members of Ohara School of Ikebana Northern Ohio Chapter will be on view Saturday, May 28 and Sunday, May 29, 2022 at Cleveland Botanical Garden.
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May 20, 2022
A Helping Hand from the Community
By Nicholas Chilson, Gardener
With an upcoming project and a desperate need for cardboard we reached out to local businesses, and they delivered.
Mulch can be a great tool for controlling weeds in the garden, but sometimes when weeds are particularly tricky to control, mulch alone may not be enough. Cardboard can be placed in the garden and then mulched over providing an extra layer of control.
May 20, 2022
The Spring Ephemerals in Stebbins Gulch
By Sarah R. Carrino-Kyker, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Spring ephemeral flowers in the forest only bloom for a short period of time after the weather warms up from the winter, but before the trees in the canopy fully leaf-out and the light levels get lower on the forest floor. As such, our days of flower surveys are often long days in the field crammed together all in one or two weeks. This way, we can catch the plants before they go dormant again. But, these days of flower surveys are also ones when I have experienced some of the best natural beauty of the forests at Holden!
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May 19, 2022
Holden Arboretum Will Welcome Summer with an Outdoor Maze for Kids, Concerts in the Forest, and Popular Attractions for Endless Adventure
Holden Arboretum Will Welcome Summer with an Outdoor Maze for Kids, Concerts in the Forest, and Popular Attractions for Endless Adventure
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May 11, 2022
Euphorbias in flower
By Bernadette Gallagher, B.S. Wildlife Biology, ISA Certified Arborist, Gardner
Come visit us, slow down, and look closely for all the things our amazing gardens have to offer!
Read moreMay 11, 2022
A New Appreciation of Trees
By Dawn Gerlica, Senior Horticulturist
During our son’s end of March break from school, we decided it was time to take a family trip to Washington D.C. The original idea was to go to introduce our teenage son to the U.S. history of the place, but quite by accident, spring break this year perfectly coincided with the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the peak of bloom. Even though I had not been to Washington D.C. since I was my son’s age, I knew there were cherry trees planted around. Until I saw them in full bloom, I really didn’t realize how many there were and the spectacle that awaited. I was in awe.
Read moreMay 11, 2022
Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden
By Mary Lineberger, Gardener
This is a wonderful little gem of a book written by an in interesting, smart, opinionated woman. Because it’s a collection of 72 essays on different garden related topics it does not require the commitment of reading from cover to cover. The reader can peruse the table of contents and choose a topic that piques their interest. Once you hear what Ms. Perenyi has to say about ivy, compost or blues, trust me, you’ll want to go back and pick another – maybe the essay on hedges, tools, or paths?
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May 6, 2022
How to Clone a Tree
By Rachel Kappler, Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative (GLB FHC) Coordinator
How do you study a fully grown tree in a regular-sized laboratory? You collect a branch, take it back to the lab, graft it onto a much smaller tree, and study the clone. And that’s exactly what Holden researchers are doing with beech trees from all over the Great Lakes Basin. They’re making these clones because some trees from the region appear to be resistant to pests that cause beech leaf disease, and they want to understand why.
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April 25, 2022
It’s the Tree’s Knees
By Lorinda Laughlin, Gardener
If you’ve recently visited the Arboretum, you may have noticed what appears, at first glance, to be a flash-mob of squirrels convening around Blueberry Pond. Thanks to some winter rejuvenation pruning around the pond, it’s now easy to see this otherworldly spectacle of stalagmite-like structures, or “tree knees”, sticking up above the waterline and in the wet grassy areas nearby Taxodium distichum, commonly known as bald cypress.
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April 21, 2022
New Research Collaboration Aims to Save Eastern Hemlocks
By Rachel Kappler, Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative (GLB FHC) Coordinator
Holden research launched a new initiative this year to help conserve eastern hemlocks. The Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative (GLB FHC) brings together the US Forest Service Northern Research Station in Ohio and the New Jersey Forest Service with Holden to focus on breeding eastern hemlock trees for resistance to pests.
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April 15, 2022
When an Ecologist is a Lab Rat
By Sarah Kyker, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate
What does the soil ecology lab at Holden have in common with a crime lab? More than you might think! In the soil ecology lab, we rely heavily on DNA sequences, just like crime labs. Crime labs use DNA sequences to match a suspect to a crime scene. We use DNA sequences to match species of fungi and bacteria to our forest soils. (Sidenote: We focus on bacteria and fungi in the soil because they are the most active decomposers!)
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April 7, 2022
Behind-the-Scenes Spring Phenology Monitoring
By Emma Dawson-Glass, Research Specialist
Spring is underway here in Northeast Ohio, meaning it’s time for the Stuble lab and our team of wonderful volunteers to get out in Bole Woods and start monitoring spring phenology. For those unfamiliar, phenology is the study of the timing of natural phenomena as it relates to seasonal changes. In our case, we’re monitoring the phenology of spring ephemerals—the wildflowers that come up in forest understories during the spring while the canopy is still open.
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