CAF Seasons: Summer 2023

SUMMER 2023

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Jane Myers recently submitted this winning Cylburn Dahlia image to our social media photo contest. She shared, "Your gardens are a jewel of city living here in Baltimore."

As we enjoy the peak growing period, we relish the sounds and smells of summer at Cylburn Arboretum. From joyful children’s voices, and buzzing pollinators, to fragrant flowers – it is an enchanting season. As the new Executive Director of Cylburn Arboretum Friends, I am incredibly thrilled to be part of this extraordinary community and to celebrate the wonders of nature with each and every one of you.

As we bask in the summer’s glory, let us embrace the sense of wonder and awe that the season brings. I encourage you to take a leisurely stroll through our gardens. And of course, our new Nature Education Center is open on the weekends (10 a.m. – 2 p.m.) and well worth a visit.

In the coming months, we will be adding more staff members to our gardens and grounds team, starting a Master Naturalist course, and opening the Nature Education Center six days a week. We could not do this without the support of all of you! To all our dedicated members, volunteers, staff, and donors, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support. It is your dedication that makes Cylburn Arboretum thrive.

Thank you all for being part of this wonderful journey. I am excited to see what incredible adventures lie ahead.

Liatris spicata, commonly known as blazing star, is featured prominently in the Mansion Rain Gardens at Cylburn. This clump forming perennial prefers moist soil while tolerating summer heat and humidity, so it is an excellent choice for a sunny rain garden.

Booke Fritz, Executive Director Cylburn Arboretum Friends

“Now summer is in flower and nature’s hum is never silent round her sultry bloom.”

– John Clare

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rebecca Henry President

Nancy B. Hill Vice President

Hilles Whedbee Secretary

Robert A. Cook Treasurer

Mariayne Brodnicki

Linda Wright Butler

Will Clemens

Beverly Davis

Emily Dillon

Patricia Foster

Alan Gilbert

Sandra P. Gohn

Mae Hinnant

Sorrel King

Jo Middleditch

Ramesh Moorthy

Douglas Nelson

Jack Owens

Nell B. Strachan

EX OFFICIO

Melissa Grim Chief Horticulturist, Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks

Colleen Vacelet Owner, Intreegue Design

SEASONS is published by Cylburn Arboretum Friends

Written and edited by Brooke M. Fritz

Executive Director

Erika Castillo Director of Education

Brent Figlestahler Head Gardener

Bill Geenen | Communication Design Layout and Design

A CONVERSATION WITH OUR NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Brooke Fritz stepped into the role of Executive Director of Cylburn Arboretum Friends this June. This summer, she reflected on what brought her to Cylburn as well as her aspirations for the future.

Do you have any special memories or experiences of gardening or being outdoors growing up that have shaped you?

My grandmother was a gardener, as is my mother. Growing up, all of our family pictures were taken in front of my grandmother’s garden. And then for years, Mother’s Day was always spent tending my mom’s garden. I have a garden at my home because of the women in my life who had gardens before me.

You grew up in the Baltimore area, and your family goes back generations here. How important is the idea of ‘place’ to you with regard to your work and your priorities?

Six generations of my mother's family grew up in the city, so many of our family stories start in different Baltimore neighborhoods and now I am raising my children here as well. I have a strong desire to invest my time and energy into this

community. Cylburn Arboretum is a wonderful asset for the City of Baltimore. It is a living laboratory: a place for our city to learn, grow and connect with nature. I see my work with Cylburn Arboretum Friends as an opportunity to contribute to the overall well-being and quality of life in our Baltimore community.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?

I got my undergraduate degree from Gettysburg College where I studied English and History. I have a Masters in Organizational Development and Strategic Human Resources from Johns Hopkins University with a focus in nonprofit management.

What has prepared you along the way for this position as Executive Director of CAF?

Cylburn Arboretum Friends is in an exciting period of growth. We have expanded our footprint with

a new building while simultaneously expanding our work both on the grounds and with more educational programming. A key role for me as the Executive Director in the future will be to help provide strategic direction to the organization as a whole, serve as a public-facing spokesperson for our efforts, and ensure that we are implementing our vision. And then, of course, we hope to inspire individuals and institutions to invest in our vision! I have done each of these types of work in different positions in my past, but never all together in the same role. I am excited to tie it all together at Cylburn Arboretum.

Who is/was a mentor of yours and what did they teach you/inspire you with?

I have had many mentors throughout the years, and I am so grateful to each of them, but most recently it has been my colleagues at CAF who have inspired me the most. My mentors have not always been supervisors; one of my earliest teachers was a woman I was supervising who taught me the value of storytelling. I feel fortunate to find myself in the same position again at Cylburn Arboretum. There is the Chief Horticulturist for Baltimore City, Melissa Grim, whose deep institutional knowledge and passion for the Arboretum serve as a guiding beacon. There is our Head Gardener, Brent Figlestahler, who does an excellent job of thinking about the long-term work and impact we want to have as an Arboretum, while also masterfully getting his dayto-day work in the gardens accomplished. There is our Education Director, Erika Castillo, who is the person I want to teach my own children and, by extension, the children of Baltimore. Her thoughtful approach to education leaves a lasting impression

on us all. And of course, I would not be at Cylburn Arboretum if not for our former Executive Director, Patricia Foster. During my past two years working for CAF, I have learned from and been inspired by this incredible team of people.

What is your favorite thing about Cylburn?

I love the excitement that people feel about both Cylburn Arboretum as a place, as well as our work as Cylburn Arboretum Friends. As a public garden and arboretum, we bring so many people together for so many different reasons. Visitors from out of town who want to enjoy a beautiful public space, master gardeners working as volunteers, families looking to explore nature or have a learning experience, history buffs curious about the Tyson family and the Cylburn Mansion, dog walkers looking for space to roam, couples seeking a romantic spot to picnic, and college and graduate students intent on putting our collections to use. Each group brings a different flavor to the property, but as a whole they bring energy and purpose to Cylburn.

How is the role of CAF (and Cylburn Arboretum, in general) evolving?

Cylburn is a public garden and arboretum. All gardens serve a social role because we create a natural environment for people to meet. But we also want to provide resources. What are the questions of this generation that need answering?

From young people learning about birds and insects to all of us learning about the adaptivity of oak trees in a changing climate, we are excited to bring people together to learn and grow. I am thrilled to be leading CAF in our new space as we expand in the coming years!

"From young people learning about birds and insects to all of us learning about the adaptivity of oak trees in a changing climate, we are excited to bring people together to learn and grow."

—Brooke Fritz, Executive Director

BY: BRENT FIGLESTAHLER, CAF HEAD GARDENER

Betting on T

his past spring, I had the opportunity to take my 13-month old son to visit one of our Nation’s grandest oaks—the Angel Oak, a 400 year old Southern Live Oak, Quercus virginiana. Like pilgrims around the globe, we were in pursuit of the inspiration and connection garnered when in the presence of something wholly “bigger” than ourselves. We made the two-lane trek to John’s Island, South Carolina, past hurricane proof cinder block homes and epiphytic spanish moss. I was excited to witness the majesty of such a beautiful old oak. The branches hung, and were in many cases propped, like only those who have experienced enough years of resisting gravity. While I was in awe, my son was not impressed. He played in the leaves taking more interest in the pedestrian barriers than the tree towering above and all around.

By virtue of his indifference, the toddler among us inspired an atmosphere of self-reflection in the parent pilgrims. My takeaways were two: pilgrimages cannot be forced on children, and I am at a loss for words to describe why oaks, of all the trees, are so venerated. Compared to our nation’s other trees, oaks possess neither the greatest height, greatest mass, or greatest ages. It’s our conifers that sweep, and always have, all these categories. What can be said of our centuries-old fascination with, and use of, oaks across the northern hemisphere? Getting to know Oaks, the genus Quercus, will require an understanding of their evolutionary history and maybe a face-to-face meeting at your local arboretum.

The entomologist Doug Tallamy and his apostles make a compelling case for the ecological significance of oaks; but his is a contemporary realization. Until recently, the grandeur of an oak did not inspire in me an appreciation of its role in sustaining a caterpillar food web. I find the appeal of oaks runs deeper than such rational thought—it feels instinctual. The oaks have in many ways shaped human culture. Whether providing food from acorns; building material for ships, furniture, barrels and shelter; or even ink for writing and corks for bottles, oaks have proved indispensably linked to humans and the development of modern civilization. This link is not without its toll for the oaks as we have increasingly shaped the environmental conditions in which they grow.

Right: Brent Figlestahler, CAF Head Gardener, on pilgrimage to the Angel Oak

"What can be said of our centuries-old fascination with, and use of, oaks across the northern hemisphere?"

the Wind

Betting on the Wind

Similar to humans, and consequently correlated to our own footprint, oaks are evolutionary mavericks. From Canada into South and Central America, the genus Quercus has adapted to many, if not all, the environments of the North American continent, not to mention that their spread occurs in a similar gradient across the entire globe. This genetic ability to subtly adapt has led to much of the debate surrounding the official species count in the genus Quercus. Also like us, oaks survive, and hybridize best when in groups, or forests. They are great genetic outcrossers, reliant on the wind to yield many hybrids and consequently challenge those tasked with properly identifying them.

Borrowing a strategy from conifers, an evolutionary elder, the genus Quercus made an unusual evolutionary tack for its time. While the other genera were working hard to produce delicious fruit and beautiful flowers—think Magnolias —the oaks sensed a change. With the onset of geologic upheavals and a cooling climate, insect pollination became less viable than was previously the case when broadleaf evergreens and rainforests stretched into the middle latitudes of present-day North America. Instead of investing in animal pollination, the oaks bet on the wind, growing male (staminate) flowering chains of pollen known as catkins, and sparse tiny acorn bearing flowers. How does something so magnificent begin in such an unimpressive manner?

A Sawtooth Oak at Cylburn. Top: The catkins of a White Oak. Above: The leaves and immature acorn of a Sawtooth Oak.

Between the fossil record, such as oak pollen, acorns, and leaves, and recent genome sequencing efforts, scientists believe the first oaks appeared about 56 million years ago. This period is known as the Eocene. From a single undifferentiated group, oaks have evolved into around 435 species today. Spreading for a period by way of intercontinental land bridges, oaks were eventually left to develop their own identities in relative continental isolation. The Americas are now home to approximately 60% of all Quercus species. Just picture the differences in leaves, acorns, and growth habits among North American oaks. Leaves can be as big as a head or smaller than your thumb. They can be simple and leathery or lobed

and fragile, or even evergreen or deciduous. Acorns come in all shapes and sizes—round and sized to the palm of a hand or fusiform and sized for beaks. Forms can be skyward and canopy piercing, sprawling and gluttonous, or even shrublike and thicket-forming. The staggering diversity in oak galls, an oak tissue reaction to cynipid wasps, also speaks to one of the numerous co-evolutions between oaks and animals.

Our Eastern North American oaks can be divided into two lineages, or sections – Reds and Whites. As a nod to the Angel Oak, it’s worth mentioning that Southern Live Oaks are a lineage unto themselves. Identification between the two oak groups is often keyed to the presence: the Red Oak

group, of bristles at the tips of leaves, or the absence thereof, the White Oak group. What most observers miss, however, is the time it takes to develop acorns. Members of the White Oak group produce acorns in one season, and their acorns are fast to germinate. The Red Oak group takes a full year from the point of pollination to produce a mature acorn. The “Whites” are evolutionarily older. Just as a cooling climate spawned the evolution of deciduous oaks, so too did cooling give birth to the “Reds.” In an effort to overcome unpredictable climactic conditions, the “Reds” evolved a longer period of acorn maturation occurring over two seasons instead of just one.

(continued page 10)

Red Oak leaf

White Oak leaf

Betting on the Wind

Now that you are better acquainted with their family history, I recommend spending some time in their presence. Here is a sample of some Cylburn oak encounters to be had.

Root for your City’s oak seedlings: Have you noticed the loss of mature oaks from forest canopies? Cylburn Arboretum aims to do something about it. The United States Forest Service (USFS) along with the University of Delaware and University of Kentucky are utilizing Cylburn as one site in a multi-city study of White Oak, Q. alba, and Chestnut Oak, Q. montana. The study utilizes oak seedlings sourced from a North to South gradient of cities to measure climate resiliency. The planting sites capture both forest “canopy gap” contexts and full sun “orchard” contexts. The study is also concerned with urban silviculture techniques. The data gathered will help foster a future of improved methods for growing oaks in urban contexts and hopefully select trees with more resilience to human induced challenges like competition from introduced species and anthropogenic climate change. The trees, around 900 one year old seedlings, were planted this spring. Seedlings of acorns collected in Baltimore are marked with yellow flags. It’s a slow race, as harvestable acorns might not appear for another decade. Nevertheless, careful observers will have plenty of time to place bets and watch for morphological changes.

Pick

up one of Cylburn’s most unique acorns:

The Sawtooth Oak, or Q. acutissima, is a heavy masting (acorn bearing) oak favored by deer, turkeys, and other wildlife for its abundant annual shower of large acorns. Although native to Asia, this oak has naturalized in the Eastern United States where it has recently been watched, in the south, for invasive tendencies. Come visit and learn to identify it. The acorns warrant a closer look. The fun of these acorns resides in their cupule, or cap, which is adorned with what resembles extruded playdough.

Tara Trammell is the John Bartram Associate Professor of Urban Forestry at University of Delaware. Here she is holding a bag of oak tree seedling siblings on the day that the "orchard site" was planted at Cylburn.

Stroll under Cylburn’s oldest oaks:

The Northeast corner of the property, along the Woodland and Ridge Trails, has some of our oldest and biggest oaks. These ancients have estimated ages of 250-300 years. One fallen and cut white oak log dated to circa 1760. We believe this area was preserved from harvest for aesthetic purposes in conjunction with the Tyson Estate carriage road.

In the spirit of “Silent Spring,” the importance of our native oaks is more completely recognized for the oaks’ role connecting insects and avian life. Still a long way off from my fantasy world of celebrity trees, it might be most broadly appropriate to compare oaks to professional athletics. In this case, oaks are not in the NBA starting lineup. Oaks aren’t even on the bench. However, oaks importantly comprise the magnitude of fans, coaches, neighborhood courts, and leagues that make basketball possible in this country. Although very middle-class when compared to the wide array of arbor-champs, it’s believed that the genus Quercus comprises more forest tree biomass than any other genus in North America. They are typically a keystone species in the forests they inhabit. This, unsurprisingly, helps explain their ecological significance in comparison to other woody plants. Oaks are extremely important members of our forests, our cities, our carbon sink, and even our collective cultural legacies. I believe it is this foundation that has been sensed and leaned on for meaning throughout history. I now realize that oaks are venerated due to an alchemy between their persistent presence, prevalence, and overall tenacity.

Currently, a long way from the Eocene, geologists refer to our present epoch as the Anthropocene, or era of humans. While typical geologic processes like erosion and sedimentation quietly occur even in our own harbor, an obvious key marker of the anthropocene is our ever present use of concrete. Although considered by some an error, it brought me great joy to see that the concrete in our very own Nature Education Center came with a defect or two. Upon close examination, you can see leaf imprints of the surrounding oaks permanently cast into the NEC floor. Undoubtedly carried by the fall wind during construction, these leaves have ironically made their mark on a public building dedicated to “uncovering the hidden world of trees.” Simultaneously, the oaks have left their mark on Cylburn’s fossil record. As we make our mark here at Cylburn, one replete with 900 oak seedlings and a new building, it is my hope that Cylburn will one day be a place of arboreal pilgrimage. Maybe the “orchard site,” a future white oak grove, will elicit Angel Oak-worthy inspiration. Until then, we hope to at least solicit a visit. Bring your kids- even if it’s a forced pilgrimage.

The Witness Oak display at the NEC features a cut white oak log dated to circa 1760.

Photos top left and bottom row: Alan Gilbert. Photos top right and page 13: Tom Holdsworth.

COME ON OUT TO VISIT THE NATURE EDUCATION CENTER!

The new Nature Education Center has been a hive of activity this summer. During the week campers filled the space, using the exhibit area for story time or to explore the installations. During the weekends, we have been open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and have welcomed local

families, scout troops, and visitors from out of town looking to see a slice of Baltimore. Our grand opening will be on Friday, September 8. After that, we will be open six days a week. If you have not come out to visit us recently, stop by and explore our CFG Exhibit Hall. You won’t regret it!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

SEPTEMBER 6: TREE TIME – PARENT/CHILD CLASS

SEPTEMBER 8: GRAND OPENING, NATURE EDUCATION CENTER (NEC)

SEPTEMBER 12: GENERAL VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION

SEPTEMBER 20: WEDNESDAY WALK

SEPTEMBER 21: VISITOR SERVICE VOLUNTEER (VSV) TRAINING

SEPTEMBER 26: DOUG TALLAMY LECTURE AND BOOK SIGNING

FALL 2023: NEC OPEN SIX DAYS A WEEK (CLOSED MONDAYS)

THANK YOU

We can’t thank you enough for being part of our community at Cylburn Arboretum Friends—your support and participation is the foundation of our success. Looking for more ways to be involved? LEARN MORE

Do you know someone who would enjoy being a member as much as you? The Gift of Cylburn Gift certificates are available HERE.