One of my favorite things about Hoyt Arboretum is the unexpected adventures you encounter on every trail. Each hike, class, or volunteer activity offers a delightful detour from the ordinary. There’s always something wonderful waiting to be discovered. The Call to Adventure Nursery and Planting Specialist, Brett Rousseau, recently asked if I’d like to help … Read more
Spring at Hoyt Arboretum arrives quietly at first—soft light, tender new leaves, and the earliest hints of colourful blooms returning to the landscape. After months of cold, stillness, and uncertainty, the season reminds us that life always finds a way. Each bud, each unfolding leaf, carries its own small message of hope: that growth continues, … Read more
On a recent visit to the Dorena Genetic Resource Center near Cottage Grove, Hoyt Arboretum staff stepped into one of the country’s leading quantitative resistance research facilities and saw, firsthand, how science is helping forests keep pace with fast-moving threats. What’s happening at Dorena isn’t abstract. It’s hands-on, large-scale, and urgent. What Is Quantitative Resistance? … Read more
At Hoyt Arboretum, our trails are more than paths through the forest—they’re galleries in a living museum, where trees and shrubs are thoughtfully arranged like exhibits. And this time of year, the Witch Hazel Exhibit steals the show as their signature, spidery flowers begin to unfurl. Some Botanical Background Witch hazels (Hamamelis) are full of … Read more
If you were to sneak a peek into Hoyt Arboretum’s maintenance yard, the first things you’d notice might be the practical signs of a working natural area: tightly packed work trucks, shelving stacked floor-to-ceiling with shovels, rakes, pruners, and handsaws, bins of organized work gloves, and everything necessary for everyday stewardship. But—past the tools and … Read more