
Recently, I took the opportunity to once again drive out to Madison Ohio for the Holden Arboretum’s Leach Research Station open house. If anyone who has followed this blog in the past, I have been there many times before, and even wrote something on it. However, it just goes to show you that if it is something worth going to year after year then it must be worth it.


Of course, the main grounds in Kirtland Ohio is where Holden seems to focus on its resources such as the Helen S. Layer Rhododendron Garden which I must admit is a spectacular display. However, the Leach Research Station is a working property, with its greenhouses and test plots for new hybrids. It is kind of remarkable what they can do on 20 acres. Madison Ohio is lot more built up than when Mr. Leach purchased this land more than five decades ago and I wonder if Holden would even be able to, if they wanted to, purchase anymore property.


The number of rhododendrons and azaleas in bloom were amazing and many people were just waling around exploring the grounds. The weather was perfect too, it only got hot later during the week, and it wasn’t humid at all. That’s why this time of year is the best on the North Coast. In the fall, I am sure the trees will be just as colorful as at the arboretum itself. Of course, that is only for the small staff there to know for certain. Within a blink of an eye, another open house will be here before they know it.

Photographs by James Valentino.