Arboretum

Last weekend my husband and I went with a couple of friends to visit Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and the nearby Scott Arboretum on the Swarthmore College campus. Both were beautiful, and I'd recommend them to anyone who likes trees, flowers or gardens. Admission to Chanticleer is only $5.00 apiece, children under 16 free, and the Scott Arboretum is free.

Montgomery Township is fortunate to have its own Arboretum, an arboretum of native plants. Many people have already visited it without knowing anything about it, because it is attached to Montgomery Park on the east side. There is a kiosk with a map and brochures next to the main parking lot, and as you go downhill from the parking lot toward the bridge you are already in the Arboretum. The land was purchased through a grant from Green Acres, a New Jersey state program, and the application was written by Ewa Zak, the now-retired longtime chair of our Shade Tree Committee, who conceived of the arboretum as a place where people could see native trees and fall in love with them, as she had fallen in love with native American plants. This unusual concept was an award-winner, and we are all the beneficiaries. Now my husband is chair of the Shade Tree Committee, and he and the other members of the Shade Tree Committee are in charge of choosing new trees every year and generally keeping an eye on things.

While our arboretum has some large old trees, most of the arboretum trees are fairly young. This has the advantage that if you are looking for a tree to plant in your yard, you can see at the Arboretum what it will look like a few years after you plant it. It will be inspiring to watch them grow over the years. Some of the earlier plantings, e.g. the cypresses near the main parking lot, are already quite tall. If you are choosing a tree, be sure to research the conditions that the tree needs. Don't just choose a tree that you admire growing in a moist, sunny spot and buy it and take it home and plant it in a dry, shady spot.

The Arboretum is full of paths, and every time I go there I find people walking their dogs and kids riding bikes and skateboards. The paths connect Montgomery Park and a pathway along Millpond Road to the soccer fields and the Millpond Bridge, where there is a trailhead that leads along a boardwalk and through the Campbell Farm to River Road. It is a beautiful hike. Friends tell me that they hear and see frogs in vernal pools in the spring, and large patches of jacks-in-the-pulpit beside the boardwalk; I have missed the right time of year for those. In the arboretum itself you can see a variety of native plants, birds and butterflies. The trees are labeled to help you know what you are looking at. Every time I go there I catch a glimpse of a horse or two on a neighboring property, and I've seen huge snapping turtles in the streams.

I also have a tree at the Arbortum. My husband and I donated a tree in memory of my late father, Warren Roberts, who loved trees. We decided that a good candidate for his favorite tree was the American persimmon tree, Diospyros virginiana, because he grew persimmon trees in his yard; he admired its hard wood, used to make golf clubs; and he loved to eat persimmon pudding. There is a photo of his persimmon tree above. Many people, including my husband, have donated a tree or a bench in memory of a loved one. If you would like to donate a tree to the Montgomery Arboretum, you can inquire at the Municipal Building, or let me know in a comment and I will tell my husband.