BY RAHUL D'SILVA

In print | Published April 7, 2005

As the gloomy rains of this past weekend gave way to sunny days and warm breezes, it became clear that spring is here. And with the approach of April comes the Scott Arboretum’s spring planting of its numerous and varied gardens. Located on about 150 acres in and around Swarthmore College, the Arboretum’s lush greenery is one of the first things visitors to Swarthmore notice. Curator Andrew Bunting described it as containing “ordinary plants for the average Delaware County gardener, and is one of the better collections in the U.S.” As spring rolls around, the Arboretum’s grounds staff is hard at work maintaining the collections and making new plantings as well.

Spring planting involves both planting of new species and general pruning and maintenance of the existing collection. The two largest planting projects are around the Science Center and at the new Alice Paul dorm. There are also perennials being planted and newly dedicated trees, along with some new plantings on the terraces around Sproul. “We’re currently replanting the roses in the Rose Garden, and maintaining the beds,” said Jamie Kingston ‘07, who works on the grounds staff. "We’re also doing some trimming and weeding of the old plants around Parrish."

The Alice Paul dorm is a big focus, with its gardens holding plants that were awarded gold medals by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Rhoda Maurer, who works at the Arboretum Offices and also sits on the selection committee for the Horticultural Society, said, “They are plants which are hardy and pest-resistant. They should be very good for this particular area.” There are also succulents planted on the garden terraces at Alice Paul, which are visible from some of the dormitory windows. “The Green Roof on the top of Alice Paul, planted last spring, should be filling in about now,” said Maurer.

Don’t underestimate the Arboretum as a low-tech shop with just shovels and pruning shears. Five years ago, the Arboretum even had a GPS system installed to better catalogue its huge collection. About 65 percent of the plants are now catalogued, and can be located to within two centimeters using a global point-of-view. The system uses two receivers, one located on top of McCabe and the other a mobile receiver, to pinpoint locations. “We always joke that we’re communicating with Martians because it looks kind of extra-terrestrial,” quipped Bunting. “We even had to get the FCC involved to set it up.”

There are plenty of places to explore if you want to see something new. “The Glade Garden should be blooming in late spring, and the Butterfly Garden, in which bulbs were planted in the fall, should be blooming around the same time,” said Gus Eriksen, the crew leader for the grounds staff.The Arboretum also consists of numerous other collections such as the Cosby Courtyard outside Kohlberg Hall, the John W. Nason Garden between Trotter and Hicks, the Theresa Lang Garden of Fragrance near LPAC, and many other sights both near and far including small individual collections of holly in the Crum Woods. So stop by the Arboretum offices, located up the hill from Willets, for a map of the collections or maybe even a free tour. And make sure you check out the splendor of spring all around campus. You can’t miss it.

The Scott Arboretum can be reached at (610) 328-8025 or on the web at www.scottarboretum.org.

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