Articles & Resources

New Plantings at the Nature Center
By Alan Gorkin, Director of Horticulture

For those of you that walk our trails regularly, you may have noticed new plantings in various places along the trails. Most significantly, the Arboretum Trail has been rebuilt and regravelled, with its edges planted with daffodils. The sides are mulched with wood chips to keep the mowers at bay and avoid future damage. Much of this work was done with volunteers and coordinated by our Land Manager, Vinny Piselli.

Along the trail on the left side as you proceed from Oenoke you will find interesting natives newly planted. Nyssa sylvatica' Red Rage', a weeping form of our native Tupelo (excellent honey source) will scream with fall color. Nearby, find the Ptelea trifoliata "aurea', a golden leafed form of our native hop tree, the fruits of which can substitute for Hops when brewing your local microbrews. Clustered in the shadier areas are stands of Aesculus parviflora, the native Buckeye, an extremely shade tolerant and wide spreading shrub. We hope this will shade the ground and inhibit the weeds while providing summer flowers and a source of bee pollen. Lastly, we have planted a young Magnolia acuminata, the Cucumber Magnolia, with its giant leaves reminiscent of prehistoric times. It has lovely fragrant greenish yellow flowers and cucumber like fruits and can attain a height of 30 ' tall.

Eventually, on the right side as you approach from Oenoke, we plan on placing moisture tolerant natives, such as Itea (sweetspire), Ilex vertcillata (Native winterberry) and Clethra (summersweet) with their awesome fall color, fruits and summer fragrant blooms to colonize theses wet areas, and provide further habitats for bees and native animals. Several invasive trees and vines have been removed (Norway Maple) and Bittersweet (Celastrus), to help with this project.

As you enter the Woodland Trail over the newly rebuilt stone bridge, behind the main parking area, plantings have proceeded here as well. Along the stream, to recreate a native streamside habitat and encourage wildlife, we have planted Asimina triloba, our native Paw Paw. Dubbed the Indiana Banana, it produces edible oblong fruits that taste reminiscent of banana custard. It is prized by raccoons and humans alike. Because it needs a separate clone to pollinate it, we hope to pair our "Pennsylvania Gold" with a friend in the spring.

On the other side of the bridge, we have moved several native Azaleas ( Azalea viscosum) with its sweet summer fragrance, Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata) noted for its red winter berries, and Itea virginica. We hope to make this the beginning of our "foraging trail" with the addition of native persimmons. Many of our new plantings were provided by a generous donation of plant material from Summer Hill Nursery in Madison, Conn.

Our Development Department is also coordinating memorial tree plantings in the Arboretum, so we can continue to add to our collection and help remember those who loved the Nature Center. If you would like to plant a tree or shrub in memory of a loved one, please call our Director of Development, Ann Billik at (203) 966-9577 x18.