Two of Dan ’ s favorite trees in the Arboretum : Tetracentron sinense , just south of the Woodland Garden pond on Arboretum Drive , and the golden oak , Quercus robur ‘ Concordia ’, on Azalea Way . ( Photos by Niall Dunne )
It was an incredibly noisy , horribly dusty place to live . That was the downside of it . The upside was the Arboretum was my backyard . I had it right at my avail every morning , afternoon and evening , and that ’ s how I really got to know it . On full-moon nights , Emerson and I would go for walks . One night , I encountered a tree silhouetted against the moonlight with the most beautiful leaves I ’ d ever seen . I just fell in love with it without knowing what it was . Next morning , I went back , found it , and learned its name , Tetracentron sinense . [ See “ Tetracentron sinense ,” “ Arboretum Bulletin , Spring 2019 .] I since had a lamp made and ornamented in copper with the leaves and stems of Tetracentron . It ’ s in our library at home , and when the leaves are back lit , it reminds me so much of that evening with my dog .
As for the cottage , I had people knock on my door every hour of the day and night thinking it was the restroom . I ’ d hear people screaming and would call the police thinking someone was being attacked . In the morning , I had to open the gates , and in the evening I had to be there to close the gates — every single day , seven days a week . So , when we talk about a herd of cows that need milking , it was like that . JO : Where were the gates ? DH : At both ends of Arboretum Drive . The south end is blocked off now , but in those days ,
the drive was used as a minor arterial . Especially when traffic was backed up on Lake Washington Boulevard , people would cut through the Arboretum going way too fast , thinking they were being really smart . On occasion , I would close the north gate — I had to close one of them first , right ?— and the cars would go whipping up , turn around , come back , and then find me closing the south gate . Oh my God , I got cussed out so many times .
JO : That sounds brutal — to be the public face of order in the park .
DH : It was . And it made me even more determined to screw them so they wouldn ’ t use the Arboretum as an arterial . It was wild .
JO : Let ’ s talk about when you would go on plant collecting expeditions . I know you did those quite often for many years and you still do . Correct ? DH : I still do . JO : And did any of those plants get added to the collections at the Center for Urban Horticulture , or just at the Arboretum ?
DH : That was always up to the University . I just give them the plants or seeds carte blanche . And nowadays , I no longer just give them little plants . Since 2007 at least , I ’ ve had a relationship with Monrovia growers , and they give me the surplus of everything they grow from the seed
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