Get Growing Blog
Connecting people with the wonder, beauty, and value of trees and plants.
Most Recent
May 1, 2026
It’s Poppin’: May 1
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
It’s May, and it’s definitely Poppin’! The exceptionally warm March we experienced this year has resulted in earlier bloom times than usual for many plants in our collections, including rhododendrons.... more
April 23, 2026
It’s Poppin’: April 23
It’s Poppin’ out there! The warm weather we have been having the past couple of weeks (minus the two nights where we hovered around freezing) have caused the gardens to... more
April 20, 2026
Ways to Love a Forest: Stories of Woodland Stewardship in Northeast Ohio
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
A logger had been coming by Joe and Christel Diliberto’s Portage County home for years, offering his services. So when they wanted a few trees removed — and he said... more
April 10, 2026
It’s Poppin’ April 10
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
Welcome to It’s Poppin’ 2026! Check in every week to discover the seasonal highlights in our living collections selected by curatorial staff at the Holden Arboretum and Cleveland Botanical Garden. We’ll... more
March 26, 2026
Celebrate Arbor Day with Holden Forests & Gardens
Enjoy programming all week long, guided hikes, free admission days, ceremonial tree plantings and more! March 26, 2026 (CLEVELAND) – Celebrate all things trees in honor of Arbor Day at Holden Forests & Gardens. The Cleveland Botanical Garden... more
March 10, 2026
Spring Has Arrived at Cleveland Botanical Garden with New Seasonal Programs and Events
(CLEVELAND) March 10, 2026 – Experience Spring as it is meant to be enjoyed at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Immerse yourself in blooming gardens, welcome the return of butterflies in the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse, attend popular events like the annual Spring Egg Hunt and more. The Botanical... more
March 10, 2026
After a Long Winter, Holden Arboretum Welcomes Visitors Back into Nature This Spring
(KIRTLAND) March 10, 2026 – Get ready to experience spring in all its beauty at the Holden Arboretum. Immerse yourself in the emerging tree canopy on the Murch Canopy Walk and Kalberer Family Emergent Tower beginning... more
March 6, 2026
How To Hand-Pollinate Vanilla
By Sadie Smith, Senior Horticulturist
One of my favorite plants is the vanilla orchid and I am lucky to have a mature vanilla orchid in the Madagascar biome that flowers fairly regularly. When the vanilla... more
March 2, 2026
HF&G Builds on Rare Oak Conservation Work Through Collection, Propagation, and Collaboration
By Alexandra Faidiga, Assistant Curator
In the last week of January, I returned from a plant collecting trip through coastal Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina in search of bluff oak (Quercus austrina), an uncommon oak with a... more
February 11, 2026
Celebrating Women Scientists at Holden Forests & Gardens
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
On International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we’re taking a moment to appreciate the talented researchers advancing our understanding of forests, plants, and the ecosystems they support. From... more
January 16, 2026
Native Seed Libraries Now Open to the Public
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
The Holden Seed Bank is excited to share that a regional Native Seed Library program will officially open to the public on Monday, January 19, in 10 different locations across... more
January 15, 2026
Orchid Show Rides Back into Cleveland with a Fresh Western Theme at the Botanical Garden
The Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Orchid Rodeo opens on Saturday, February 14 (CLEVELAND) January 15, 2026 – Grab your cowboy hats and boots, the Cleveland Botanical Garden’s annual orchid show, is back in town!... more
January 12, 2026
10 Questions with Jessica Hudson, HF&G’s New VP of Development
Q: What excites you most about working for Holden Forests & Gardens?A: My excitement surrounding Holden Forests & Gardens is immeasurable. I am eager to experience the year-long beauty of... more
January 6, 2026
Life in the Winter Forest
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
Take a stroll through the forest at the Holden Arboretum on a cold winter’s morning — the trails are open year-round — and the quiet stillness might trick you into... more
December 19, 2025
New Study Reveals How Beech Leaf Disease Disrupts the Forest Ecosystem
As beech leaf disease continues to sweep across our region, the longer-term effects of the disease are starting to reveal themselves in the epicenter — right here in Lake County.... more
December 5, 2025
What’s Happening Below the Forest Floor? Lessons Learned from Decades of Soil Data
By Sarah Kyker, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Caring for our planet includes an assurance that our natural ecosystems have a diversity of living things, clean water, thriving plants, and resiliency to disturbance. Soils are instrumental to all... more
November 20, 2025
Know the Forest Pests That Live in Your Area: Holden Researchers Get the Word Out
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
Do you know what the symptoms of beech leaf disease look like? What about hemlock woolly adelgid — can you tell it from elongate hemlock scale, and did you know... more
November 11, 2025
What’s That Thing on the Emergent Tower? HF&G Tests New Forest Pest Monitoring Tool
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
If you’ve been to the Kalberer Emergent Tower at the Holden Arboretum lately — let’s be honest, who hasn’t (#fall) — you may have noticed something new: A pale purple... more
October 31, 2025
Holden Forests & Gardens Celebrates One Year of the Working Woods Hub
-VIP/Media Preview November 13 and Public Open House November 15 at the Holden Arboretum- KIRTLAND, Ohio (October 30, 2025) — Holden Forests & Gardens (HF&G) invites media, partners, and the... more
October 22, 2025
Newfound Garlic Mustard Aphid May Help, but Won’t Solve, Our Garlic Mustard Problem
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
In 2021, Rebecah Troutman — at the time Holden Arboretum’s natural areas biologist — was making her rounds and came across an insect she hadn’t seen before. It appeared to... more
October 17, 2025
Meet Samantha Worthy, Holden’s Newest Scientist
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
The forests at the Holden Arboretum are a patchwork of ecosystems — a mosaic of beech, oak, and hemlock stands that shift from one to another in the space of... more
October 16, 2025
Northeast Ohio’s Favorite Holiday Tradition Returns to the Cleveland Botanical Garden
(CLEVELAND) October 16, 2025 – Year three of Northeast Ohio’s favorite indoor-outdoor winter tradition, Frost: An Ice-Capped Garden Experience at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, is just around the corner! Each... more
September 17, 2025
Restoring Forests, Engaging Landowners, Advancing Science—All in One Place
By Anna Funk, PhD, Science Communications Specialist
A version of this article originally appeared on The Applied Ecologist. What would it look like to combine scientific research, public education, and ecosystem restoration all in one place? Less... more
September 10, 2025
Cleveland Botanical Garden Welcomes the Season with Fall Programs and Activities
(CLEVELAND) September 10, 2025 – Fall is almost here, and the Cleveland Botanical Garden will be all decked out with autumn pumpkins, plant displays and plenty of colorful fall foliage.... more
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
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