It’s About Blooming Time!

One of the most incredible things about spring in Northeast Ohio is that each year we look forward to it as if it’s happening for the first time. The simple joy of spotting the first flower buds coming out of the soil never gets old.

While the Holden Arboretum and Cleveland Botanical Garden are well-known destinations displaying the natural beauty and wonder that only plants and trees can provide, there is an equally awe-inspiring, albeit comparatively unknown operation within a quarter-mile of the Arboretum’s visitor entrance.

The Long Science Center is home to groundbreaking science and conservation work that attracts budding and seasoned researchers from across the country and around the world. Their research is covered in leading nature and science publications and winning coveted national awards. This team is doing work that’s quite literally saving our native plants and trees in the Great Lakes region. We are devoting the issue to this core facet of our mission featuring our scientists and some of their special projects.

We are celebrating the splendor of spring in big ways. The Arboretum is excited to announce it will open Sean Kenney's Nature Connects Made with LEGO® Bricks, featuring more than a dozen colorful creations that will pop out of garden and trail landscapes creating a magical new world at the arboretum. Nature Connects opens Saturday, May 27th.

This year our signature holiday, Arbor Day, takes place on Friday, April 28.

• People for Trees is in year three! More than 10,000 trees have been pledged, planted, and given away. We still have thousands more trees to plant to meet our goal. Make your pledge today at holdenfg.org.

• Make a gift to the Arbor Day of Giving Campaign. You will help us do even more to support the natural world in our community.

Summer Camps are now open for registration, along with many other engaging classes and programs for all ages. Plus, the ever-popular Kalberer Emergent Tower and Murch Canopy Walk open for the season and the butterflies return to the Botanical Garden beginning on April 1. Mark your calendar for these events and more. Join us for your best spring yet.

We’ll see you soon!

KATHLEEN HEFLIN & JOEL ALPERN