Following the record cold temperatures of winter and devastating freezes of late spring, the Secrest Team was ready to make hay by the time May arrived. Our first order of business was a donor-funded revival of the southernmost portion of Gayle’s Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden. First planted in 2006, the roughly 1,600 square foot bed had become overcrowded by less-than-stellar shrubbery and unwelcome invasives. Our goal was to retain its shaded, woodsy nature and add a selection of suitable plants of interest to butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators. Most of the garden was cleared, save two large scarlet oaks (Quercus coccinea), a red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) and the expanding patch of pawpaws (Asimina triloba). Next, a new woodchip path was blazed through the wilderness to permit enhanced visitor access and easier maintenance. Then a slew of new plants, 377 to be exact, was planted with the assistance of several dedicated Master Gardener Volunteers as a menacing thunderstorm approached. I could write an entire article waxing poetic about this plethora of shade loving (or shade tolerating) species, but space here is limited, so you’ll have to visit soon to discover and appreciate them all. The final touch was the arrival of “Larry” the luna moth, who now clings to the trunk of one of the oaks.
June brought the addition of Rhododendron Knoll, another project funded by a generous donor in memory of her parents, Bill and Rita Clarke. In a bed just east of the bend where Williams Road magically becomes Green Drive, we set out to construct the perfect environment for this charming clan of broadleaf evergreens that, as a rule, abhor our sticky, moisture-retentive soils and subsequently perish via infection by nefarious root rot fungi. Twenty cubic yards of sifted topsoil, coarse sand, and shredded pine bark, over a foot deep in some areas, form the rhody-friendly mound, concealing a row of pea-gravel filled drainage chambers below the surface. The completed Knoll is now home to two dozen varieties of the family ericaceae, from “iron clad” classics to newer dwarf selections. So far, our majestic specimen of Tanyosho Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora‘Umbraculifera’) seems unfazed by the new subjects populating the rolling manor below. In July, we completed our third major donor-funded project of 2026, a fusion of quintessential English border design and modern selections of sturdier, longer-blooming perennials. Many visitors have already encountered this colorful diversion along the path to the Herms and Nielsen Discovery Pavilion.
With a theme dominated by shades of pink, lavender, lilac, and purple, 
drifts of catmint (Nepeta), Japanese iris, sage (Salvia), speedwell 
(Veronica), and yarrow (Achillea) share formal beds with improved cultivars of natives like tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata), Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium, formerly Eupatorium), and Culver’s root (Veronicastrum). A center island bed is punctuated by a newly introduced rose-of-sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) called Petite Pink Flamingo™ bred at Oregon State University. Compact and purportedly sterile, we are reasonably confident it won’t spawn the hundreds of seedlings that emerge beneath older cultivars each spring. The garden also features a bluestone patio with a table and chairs beneath the spreading branches of a 20-year-old sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima). Finally, a decorative wrought iron arbor, planted with a pair of Pink Mink® clematis, serves as an exit point on the garden’s west side. We are grateful to the Welty family for making this wonderful new addition a reality.
I’m sorry to report that after a spring and early summer of encouraging progress, the arboretum experienced a rash of thefts in July. First, a despicable nocturnal perpetrator cut a hole in the security fence surrounding our nursery facility on Selby Road, made his or her way into a storage building, and stole several pieces of equipment. In a previous newsletter, we shared news about two battery-powered chainsaws, a backpack blower and other zero-emission tools obtained through a grant from Enbridge and Friends of Secrest Arboretum. Unfortunately, these items, along with a charger and a handful of rather expensive batteries disappeared into the night. The value of our losses totaled just under $5,000. Next, our outdoor weather station was ripped violently from its post at the back of the Landscape Plant Evaluation Garden. The final insult of this terrible trifecta came when an umbrella, placed only a week earlier in the new English garden, vanished. I often say that the best thing about Secrest Arboretum is that we are open to everyone, all the time. This can also be the worst thing. If anyone notices lightly used Stihl power equipment, a mangled weather station, or a fine-looking blue umbrella on Facebook Marketplace or for sale out of the back of a shabby cargo van, please let me know. My kids have informed me that nobody uses Craigslist in 2026, but perhaps our thief or thieves still do.
–Jason Veil, Curator veil.11@osu.edu