Arboretum

The Haverford College Arboretum has been celebrating Arbor Day by planting a tree on campus for 112 years. This year’s tree was Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’ and was planted in front of Chase Hall. There had been a very large oak in the vicinity that had declined and was removed 2 years ago. This oak was likely planted a few years after the completion of Chase Hall in 1889.

The event brought out faculty, staff, students, neighbors and retirees. Plant dividends were offered to all and the participants assisted by ceremoniously putting a shovel full of soil in the hole. Arboretum Director, Bill Astifan and Horticulturist, Carol Wagner both spoke.

The tradition continues as the Arboretum staff thoughtfully replaces the lost trees with new ones to perpetuate an ongoing legacy of the beauty and majesty of the Haverford campus.

Although Earth Day is officially on Sunday, April 22, 2012, the Arboretum has two events planned for today.

Come join the Arboretum staff as we plant more than 700 wild flower plugs in the Duck Pond meadow between the hours of 11am-2pm. This is the fourth year we will be augmenting this area with native meadow plants.

Later this afternoon, I will be reading Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax at 4:30 on Founders front porch. The story of The Lorax is a favorite for all ages and there isn’t a better story to read for Earth Day.

Join us for either or both of these events!

The native plant collection and garden at #1 College Circle is in full glory. Louise Tritton, wife of former Haverford President, Tom Tritton had this garden dedicated in her honor on Earth Day 2007. Spring ephemerals currently dominate the garden and will slowly give way to a progression of native woodland perennials, shrubs and trees blooming through early November.

The collection is home to more than 70 native species.

The trees of the College have been a part of the ethos that is Haverford since 1834. One year after the college’s inception (1833), a committee hired English gardener William Carvill to lay out a “lawn” on what had been farmland. Today, Haverford College is the oldest planned college landscape in the country.

Tree Campus USA, a national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation, honors colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation.
Haverford College is one of five colleges or universities in Pennsylvania to have earned the recognition by meeting five standards: having a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, sponsorship of student service-learning projects, an event observing Arbor Day and dedicating annual expenditures for a campus tree program. This accolade celebrates and recognizes Haverford’s commitment to conservation and environmental stewardship.

Join us on campus for our Arbor Day tree planting, Friday, April 27th, at noon, Chase Hall.

More information about the Tree Campus USA program is available at www.arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA

under the oaks at graduation

The madness began last night with the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  Sixty four teams over the next few weeks are playing for the title of National Champion.

For the plant lovers, I like to think of March Madness as the time when the plants start their flurry.  Last night, I gave a quick count of what’s in bloom on campus, in the neighborhoods and in my own garden. I came up with an impressive list of 39 “teams”.

By the end of the weekend the basketball field will be reduced by halve. Not so on our side of the court!  The numbers of plant teams will only be increasing.  This weekend go out in the yard and put together your list of teams.  Everyone counts, from the blooms of the 3 inch Puschkinia to the small red flowers of the 60 foot red maple.

There is no winner in the plant world, but to all that are watching your brackets closely…good luck.

striped squill blooming at the bookstore garden, Campus Center

Are there any philosophers out there? Let me ask you this, can we have spring if there was no winter?

This is Flower Show week in Philadelphia, the Haverford students are on spring break, and the shamrock shakes are being served at McDonalds.  All signs point to spring.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this “winter” goes in to the record books as one of the mildest and least snowy ever.

The earliest cherry trees (Prunus ‘Okame’) are showing their pink hints and with the forecast for near seventy degrees by Thursday there’s no holding back.  This holds true for many of the early flowering trees.  Should we get a prolonged cold spell and by that I mean temps not climbing out the the twenties, these buds will run the risk of cold damage.  By my estimation things are accelerated by two to three weeks.

I’m putting my request in now for winters to stay remain at this level of mildness until I retire !

Sorry, all you skiers.

The recent snow coated the trees like confectioners sugar.  Much closer to the ground, the snow of merely an inch crept up the snowdrop’s diminutive stems.  If you are not too far flung from the Haverford campus, pay a visit to the bookstore steps at the Campus Center.

This small garden has shown something blooming every month of the year.  Right now the tiny bulbs of Galanthus are waking up.  Snowdrops, as most people know them are one of the harbingers of spring.  They also go by the cute name of Fair-Maids-of-February.  We have five kinds growing at the bookstore steps and another naturalized in the lawn behind Woodside Cottage.

Derived from Greek, gala “milk” and anthos “flower”, they are in the Lily family.  Mainly from Russia, Europe, Georgia and Ukraine; there are approximately 20 known species, many are threatened in their native range.  For the Galanthophiles, (people who are obsessive over this little plant) the number of cultivars are reaching 2000!

Since we really haven’t had a winter in 2012, these little snowdrops may be as much of the white-stuff as we’ll see.  No complaints here!

A plant’s scent is derived from volatile essential oils.  What is better than walking past a shrub devoid of leaves in January, and being stopped in your tracks?  The translucent yellow flowers are streaked with a purple interior and have a delicious spicy-sweet fragrance.  Winter sweet’s Latin name is not so easily passed over the tongue….Chimonanthus praecox.

I have this shrub in my home garden where it is approaching 14 ft in height.  The back yard is saturated with a pleasant odor.  You can put your nose up to Haverford’s as you walk up the steps out of the bookstore from the Campus Center.  Winter sweet blooms on warm days through late December through February.  For the rest of the year the shrub inconspicuously blends in to the garden.  This is one of those plants whose best attributes come at a time we least expect a powerful punch of perfumery.  Close your eyes and let your nose be you guide ! 

I’m sure there are a few people out there diligently sticking to their New Year resolutions.  They say more than 80% of us fail as we “lose weight”, “quit smoking”, “eat healthy”; the list goes on and is as individualized as each of us.

When December’s page was turned I began pondering what to suggest to the Arboretum Director for my New Year arboretum resolution.  Mind you, these are the aspirations of “the gardener”. Certain jobs I do throughout the year afford my brain to take long jaunts into the what ifs.

What if we began eradicating two very noxious weed shrubs from the campus landscape? I’m referring to butterfly bush, Buddleja davidii and burning bush, Euonymus alatus. These two species are on many states invasive plant list. While they are very attractive in their own right, the propensity for them to reseed in our woods and open spaces drive out native species. It makes sense that the arboretum does not promote growing them but rather remove them from the collection and educated the community on suitable alternatives.

What if the arboretum attempted to become a more prominent entity in the lives of the students, faculty and staff?  There is the Center for Environmental Responsibility (CER), a very active student driven group and the newly formed Environmental Studies Program.  Reciprocal collaboration with each of them can only be beneficial.  There is a clear connection among the arboretum and both of the groups just listed.  I believe with a little effort, each could benefit from the others strengths.

So, there are my two New Year resolutions for the arboretum.

Stay tuned to see how the what ifs become what’s next.

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the rest of the world calls a butterfly.

Lao Tzu

War is over.  Peace and health to you all in 2012.