I read with pleasure the comment from Dan Murgor that he is building an Arboretum to help our planet.
What is an Arboretum? According to the definition in the Merrium-Webster dictionary it is “a place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes “though many definitions say it is just “a botanical garden devoted to trees.” This GardenLady prefers the inclusive definition.
I wish Mr. Murgor would write more about his dreams and plans for his Arboretum and also give us readers some more information about the temperature zone location of this Arboretum and the size of the property, so that we could know a little more and give more educated suggestions.
Also, part of the definition of an Arboretum is that it is for scientific and educational purposes. Does Mr. Murgor intend to use his Arboretum for these purposes? This GardenLady gets many people who walk though her garden and ask questions about gardening and the names of the plants. These people often go home with free plants for their gardens as well as answers to their questions. TheGardenLady always encourages plantings over hard topping the property or having large expanses of just grass.
I find what Mr. Murgor is planning to be very exciting. He may join the ranks of people like Mr. and Mrs. Lacy who started what Mr. Lacy calls “the smallest arboretum in the world†in Linwood, NJ. Linwood Arboretum has 200 shrubs and trees on only 1 acre of land. I recommend that Mr. Murgor as well as other readers of this column visit this delightful arboretum to see what can be done even on a small parcel of land. And I am sure that when you visit, the people in charge of the Linwood Arboretum would give advice to those starting their own arboretum. Read this article about it.
Mr. Murgor, you made this GardenLady‘s day when you sent the email that you are starting an Arboretum. I hope you will write to TheGardenLady.org to give more details of your plan.
For the rest of you, visit your nearest Arboretum or google up Arboretum images. And maybe more people will decide to do what Mr. and Mrs. Lacy did and what Mr. Dan Murgor is planning to create.
If you would love your community to have more greenery, a pretty space with plantings- perhaps you could start a community arboretum. If one thinks that starting an arboretum in your town or city can’t be done on a small scale, think again. A new arboretum was recently started in Linwood, NJ on just 1 acre. It was the vision of a retired gentleman and his wife who saw the 1 acre property for sale that held a defunct electrical substation surrounded by barbed wire and cyclone fencing with a concrete building. No one seemed to know how to best use this property. Mr. Lacy, who is now 77, proposed building an arboretum on it. (read this)
What is an arboretum? It is a botanical garden devoted to trees.
Thanksgiving - Action de grâce by cyanne43 super slow speed
On Thanksgiving Day, this GardenLady likes to not only enjoy the feast with family and friends, but she likes to think of the day as a day of giving thanks, of sitting around the dinner table and sharing with family and friends the things that are meaningful for which each person is grateful.
Asticou Azalea Garden with Buzz and Orton by jblester2002
TheGardenLady wants to share with her readers as if each one of you is sitting at her table and to tell you all that she is so very grateful and give thanks for all the wonderful public and private gardens, arboretums and public parks that are open for her and the public to visit and enjoy. She is grateful for the vision people had to create these magnificent gardens and to keep these places and open these places for everyone to enjoy.
Mt. Cuba Fall 2009 by rwa757
How wonderful it was/is that people of wealth created such beautiful places and now allow everyone to share in their creations. For example, in Deleware who wouldn’t thank the Duponts for making so many beautiful gardens available to us to tour, gardens like Mt. Cuba and Longwood Gardens. Or in Maine, a big thank you to the Rockefellers who have supported gardens in places like Mt. Desert Island for visitors to enjoy, gardens like the Asticou Azalea Garden or Thuya Gardens and if you can get an appointment on the right day, to visit the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden. I had the great pleasure of visiting all three this summer. Or places abroad that open gardens for visitors, like the National Trust for Gardens and Parks (see here).
Thuya Garden by prettie77
And how wonderful that even people of modest means who create private gardens often open their gardens thanks to garden club tours or the Garden Conservancy that started in 1995 and opens to the public what they call the ” best private gardens” (see here) for people to visit; or the garden conservancy in England that has open day garden visits.
I am grateful for all the wonderful Botanic Gardens or Arboretums in this country and around the world: Places like the US Botanic Gardens; the National Arboretum in Washington, DCÂ ; Garvan Woodland Gardens in Arkansas; the Orto botanico di Palermo in Sicily, Italy; or Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam.
Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam by billandkent
And I am grateful for the wonderful gardens at colleges and universities that are open to the public, gardens like those at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania; Princeton University’s magnificent arboretum and gardens in Princeton, NJ; Wellesley College gardens in Wellesley, Mass. and Berkeley’s Botanical Garden in Berkeley, California to name just a few.
Berkeley Botanical Garden Pond F1280 by CoastRanger
And I am grateful for politicians or wives of politicians who had or have the foresight to create gardens. A loving thank you to Lady Bird Johnson who did so much to promote wildflowers in her state and around the country and who created The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Texas.  See here.
lady bird johnson wildflower center by TexasValerie
And a heartfelt thanks to Mayor Daley of Chicago who encourages plantings and gardens all over that city. He has an annual program called Mayor Daley’s Landscape Awards that recognizes Chicago gardeners, both resident and businesses, who make Chicago greener by planting gardens. All cities and towns should have these Awards- and many do, like Cape May, NJ that give awards for gardens.
1999 Mayor Daley’s Landscape Award – First Place, Single Family Residential, Region
And I am grateful that so many nurseries now have show gardens that are a delight to see, nurseries like Russell Gardens Wholesale with their hosta garden or Matterhorn Nursery in New York (see here) that has wonderful show gardens like their Formal Garden that is based on the Renaissance Garden at David Austin Roses in the United Kingdom or Cricket Hill Garden in Connecticut that has a seven acres terraced woodland garden they call Peony Heaven.
David Austin Roses Visit, June 09 by www.cherrymenlove.com
I am grateful for all those professional gardeners, landscapers and garden workers as well as all the volunteers who help in so many public or private gardens or even create their own gardens for people to see and visit. Professionals and volunteers help plant gardens, care for gardens, save and protect old gardens. There are the wonderful projects for volunteers like Garden Your City or The Trust for Public Land or Master Gardeners who have shown gardens in the US, Canada and now starting in New Zealand and England and there are even people who love plants who have adopted a small island on the street in front of their homes and planted them with flowers.
I can not thank everyone on this short post. But to all of you mentioned above and all of you whom I had no space or time to mention, on this Thanksgiving, TheGardenLady wants you to know how much I appreciate what you have done for me and how much more beautiful and healthier a world you have helped to create and what a wonderful, joyous environment you have made for all of us. There are not enough words in my vocabulary to express how much you and your plantings have done for me. I cannot thank you all enough what what you have given me. And so this post of Thanksgiving is for you. A simple Thank you will have to suffice.
Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College (7) by jilldaisy
A plant sale is coming up that you don’t want to miss. This sale will be held on Fri., Sept.11 through Sun. Sept. 13 at the Scott Arboretum on Swarthmore College’s campus. Even if you don’t want to buy any of the hundreds of varieties of perennials, trees, shrubs, vines or houseplants, you will enjoy this free event with free parking where there are tours of the gardens and mini lectures or individualized sessions with landscape designers to discuss your garden plan going on every 20 minutes. If you do purchase plants you will help support the new Wister Center . If you have never seen the grounds of Swarthmore College, you are in for a treat. The arboretum provides a display of the best ornamental plants recommended for Delaware Valley gardens. Over 4, 000 different kinds of plants are grown on the campus, selected for their outstanding ornamental qualities, ease of maintenance and resistance to disease. (Also, on the campus, but in a different location- so you have to ask for directions- Swarthmore College has the largest display arboretum of hollies in the US that is free to tour on your own.) Try not to miss this rain or shine Plant Sale event. The Scott Arboretum is located at 500 College Avenue in Swarthmore, PA 19081. The website is www.scottarboretum.org
