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Cherry Blossoms
WOOSTER, Ohio — Jim Chatfield, Ohio State University’s Wooster-based crabapple guru, says now’s a good time to come hang with his buds. Some 800 flowering crabapple trees at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster are now in bloom or are ready to start.
They’ll hit their peak this weekend (May 3-4), Chatfield said, and should last through the middle or the end of next week. They’re really looking wonderful,” said the horticulture specialist, who works at the Ohio State University Extension Center at Wooster. “Virtually all of them are showing their bud color now. In some ways, it’s even more beautiful now, in the time leading up to the peak, because of those set-to-burst buds. ‘
The buds come in shades of red, pink and white. So, of course, do the blooms, with rose, carmine, salmon and burgundy among the many hues. Some of the early bloomers — types such as Dolgo, Spring Snow and Strawberry Parfait — have already started to pop.
In all, OARDC and its Secrest Arboretum are home to more than 300 different types of crabapple trees. Seventy-five of them, represented by more than 350 specimens, grow in just one spot. Called “Crablandia,” it’s one of 18 National Crabapple Evaluation Plots.
Seeing the trees is free, dawn to dusk, and can be done by car or on foot. Find OARDC at 1680 Madison Ave., south of U.S. 30 in Wooster. Coming soon there is Plant Discovery Day, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, May 3, sponsored by Secrest Arboretum, with a plant sale, two plant auctions, an art sale, a bug zoo, food vendors and guided arboretum walks. Admission is free. To find out more, call (330) 263-3761 or go to http://secrest.osu.edu/. OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Writer:
Kurt Knebusch
knebusch.1@osu.edu
330-263-3776
Source:
Jim Chatfield, OSU Extension Center at Wooster
chatfield.1@osu.edu
330-263-3831
