Another of Dan ’ s favorite plantings : the Chinese red birches ( Betula albosinensis var . septentrionalis ) on Azalea Way . ( Photo by Niall Dunne )
feet west ” or whatever . But often the trees were covered with Himalayan blackberries or had other plants growing on top of them , or they were dead or in really bad condition . And as I mentioned , I would find other plants that weren ’ t maples and look at the labels . And then I was , like , “ Wow , I learned 10 new plants today !”
JO : At the ceremony last year for the dedication of the Asian Maple Collection in your honor , were there any attendees at the ceremony who were particularly meaningful for you ?
DH : My husband , Robert Jones , of course , because he ’ s been with me every step of the way . And , to have Val Easton there … she sort of led things . Fred Hoyt … Leslie Chihuly … I was really , I was just so tickled down deep and appreciative of that honor . It ’ s all sort of a blur now because I was probably just like this blubbery mess during the whole thing .
JO : Beyond the story that you told me about the Tetracentron tree , are there particular places or events that really jump out as important or special to you ?
DH : I can remember going down to Azalea Way in the springtime when Quercus robur ‘ Concordia ’— that ’ s the golden English oak — was leafing out in the spring time . My God , it was so bright and just so stunning . And I just fell in love with that tree . [ See “ Golden Oak : An Arboretum Sentinel ,” “ Arboretum Bulletin ,” Summer 2021 .] And then there ’ s a grove of Chinese red birch , Betula albosinensis var . septentrionalis . I still go back to them . They ’ re just the most beautiful birch ever . They are more on the southern end of Azalea Way , just north of the new summer garden .
JO : Near the marshy area ?
DH : Yes . They like it wet . Just so beautiful . And I can still remember early spring days walking down Azalea Way and smelling that wonderful sweetness of the cottonwoods . The cottonwoods are native down in that wet area . That ’ s where they want to grow . But there was that , just that wonderful sweetness on that first warm day of spring that we wait all winter long for . Boy , every time I smell it now , it transports me right to Azalea Way .
JO : Azalea Way is so much at the core of the park . It ’ s not just the trail that ’ s amazing . It brings in those other parts of the Arboretum because you ’ re close to everything as you walk along there .
DH : Yes , exactly . It sutures the two parts together .
JO : Why do you think the Arboretum is important to the community ?
DH : How many layers can we go on with that question ? For one , historically , it ’ s part of our city ’ s great chain of Olmsted parks . It ’ s remarkable that we still have that intact when you think about all the opportunities there have been to just axe it over the years . Also , the fact that we have that initial layout of the Olmsted Brother ’ s vision of the park . Even though their taxonomic plan didn ’ t entirely work — because some of it didn ’ t fit the land and site conditions — it was a wonderful way of approaching a botanic garden at that point in time .
And then , just the open space itself — to have that 230 acres in the middle of the city , and for it to mean so much more now than just a hallmark of how bad the traffic is : “ Traffic ’ s backed up to the
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