The community that enjoys an Arboretum is what guides it and makes it worth working towards. We are so grateful for the support we saw yesterday. Till next year!

#northeastern #northeasternarboretum

Thanks to everyone there, we were able to give away Arboretum swag, make low-waste pins, let students learn about sustainability opportunities at Northeastern, and vote on our official ArborFest tree! We were also able to give away around 1,500 pots of blue muscari and tulips to community members.

In the case of this witch hazel, the scion was either not grafted properly or was a weak pick, and the understock continued to grow. As a result, the bush will bloom twice a year, with the 'Arnold Promise' portion blooming in the spring, while the 𝘏. 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 section will bloom later in the fall.

Unlike growing with seeds, grafting will result in genetically identical specimens, allowing the cultivation of favorable traits in a population of plants. This is especially viable for commercially sold plants, which seek to produce reliable, consistent product plants.

Grafting is a practice dating back thousands of years and remains a common practice today in propagating different woody species. To graft plants together, a cutting of the desired plant--the "scion"--is connected to a piece of base plant, called the "understock."

The two distinct varieties of flower on this specimen are due to a failed graft, where the full-bloom, yellow blossom 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘹 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 'Arnold Promise' was grafted onto the 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢, which features small, orange buds.