The South Riding RV Travels

357

24th August 2007 - Arnold Arboretum - Boston MA

We went by metro to visit the 265 acre Arnold Arboretum which is just to the south west of Boston. It is owned and managed by Harvard University and the Boston Parks Dept and is on a par with Kew Gardens for its research work on the cultivation of trees. Amazingly, it is free to the general public. 

We started in the Hunnewell visitor centre where there is a model of the park which has 4500 different types of tree in different areas.

Each of the trees has one or more labels which tell you what it is. Black oaks are common in this part of the US.
This is a burl oak with characteristic swirls in its bark. The wood has similar patterns and is much prized by wood turners and furniture makers.
This is a more common credit card sized label. You would need to look in their records for more detail.
There are some bushes as well as the trees. This is in the Leventritt shrub garden  which covers  four acres and showcases over 500 shrubs and 100 vines of outstanding horticultural interest and conservation value. This is a hydrangea paniculata 'Rose Lamb' and is one of a series of bushes which could be bought at the garden centre. It will grow to 4-6 ft and came originally from Belgium.
Some are grown for their foliage rather than their flowers. We had a willow similar to this in our garden but I'm not sure what this is.
Not all bushes are grown for their foliage or flowers. This one is noted for its berries.
There is a small bonsai lath house which is kept locked to protect the more than 30 valuable plants. Some of these are over 100 years old. The large Hinoki Cypresses were imported from Japan in 1913. They have been in the US longer than any other bonsai.
There are trees of all shapes and sizes which one can wander round freely. In some areas there is quite a variety of shades of green and leaf types.
There was some colour. We missed many of the most colourful areas such as the lilacs, azaleas and rhododendrons. We will just have to return at a different time of year.
Another scenic corner with a variety of trees and colours.
In some areas the ground cover has been left to its natural state whereas in others it is beautifully manicured. There must be a lot of work to keep this place in the fine condition it is in.
The day was very hot or we might have spent longer determining what each of the trees was. But 265 acres takes some covering and we were tiring in the heat despite the shade of the trees. You could spend weeks here, and if we lived in Boston, we probably would.
This is a Chinese tree called the 'Tree of Heaven'. It is a member of the quassia family.
This is one of several huge willows planted in a relatively boggy area, hence all the tall green ground cover luxuriating with their waterlogged roots.
The maples were just beginning to turn heralding the start of the fall and the colours for which New England is renowned.
In amongst the maples we found this paperbark maple with its characteristic papery bark.
It is actually a very large tree towering up into the sky unlike many of the maples which are much smaller. There are 130 different kinds of maple in the park.
There is a big rose garden but there were only a handful of very late representatives of the species remaining in flower. However it would be very attractive earlier in the season.
On the walk back to the adjacent metro station to return home to our friends, we passed a couple of houses like this one. Although of wooden construction note the curved frontages on either side. That is something we have not seen elsewhere.