Pink perfection: Crabapples at Secrest Arboretum expected to reach peak bloom soon

WOOSTER — A rosy pink glow and cloud of sweet fragrance will blanket the Secrest Arboretum within the next week, when more than 600 crabapple trees are predicted to reach their peak bloom.

Sporadic weather patterns have the trees a little confused this year, but people should plan to visit sometime between late this week and next week, said Jason Veil, curator at the arboretum, part of the Ohio State University and its College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The trees are considered the largest collection of crabapples in the nation.

The arboretum will provide “crabapple peak-traffic updates” and photos of the blooming process on its website: secrest.osu.edu.

“The crabapple bloom is all dependent on the weather, which has been really funky lately,” he said. “Temperatures in the 40s don’t really help them progress as far as the buds enlarging and opening, so we’ve been in this holding pattern. If we could get into the 60s for a few days, they would pop open.”

Historically, the last week of April is when the trees typically reach their full bloom. In warmer years, they have bloomed sooner, Veil said. In 2018, winter temperatures lasted a while, and the trees didn’t bloom until the first or second week of May.

“There’s this window of three weeks or so that can go either way depending on the conditions,” he said.

>>This story is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Daily Record at https://www.the-daily-record.com/subscribenow

The arboretum has been open through the coronavirus pandemic “as a resource to the public and for people to walk and get fresh air,” Veil said, though some rules have changed to ensure social distancing, like closing both ends of Williams Road so that vehicles no longer can pass through and visitors can walk there instead.

When the crabapple trees, of which there are 160 varieties at the arboretum, start to bloom in full force, Veil said visitors will see “every shade of pink you can imagine.”

They’ll be able to stroll through the arboretum and get up close to the beautiful flowers, which tend to range in color from white to deep fuchsia, and clusters of fruit. For those who would rather take in the beauty from their cars, Williams Road will reopen and drive-by hours will be implemented, similar to what grocery stores have done for seniors and those most vulnerable to the coronavirus.

A variety of factors come into play when Veil and team members at the arboretum are predicting the crabapples’ peak bloom, which has been an annual attraction for the last 50 to 60 years. Plants in general, he said, “do what they do because of a pretty complex matrix of temperature, sunlight and day length,” but the biggest indicator of when the peak will happen is weather. 

This season’s fluctuating temperatures and bouts of snowy weather haven’t affected the crabapples much, Veil said.

“The reason they’re sort of this stalwart landscape tree in the Midwest for a long time is they’re pretty tough,” he said. “They’re a lot like the people of the Midwest. They’re not really phased by these ups and downs and freezes.”

For those planning to visit, Veil suggests stopping by the “Strawberry Parfait” crabapple. The light pink flowers are rimmed with a darker pink, and new foliage emerges as burgundy, later maturing into a deep green. He also recommends seeing the serviceberry, a white native shrub that is currently flowering. Early rhododendrons and viburnums, which visitors will find by their scent, will soon bloom. Redbud trees will reach their peak bloom about the same time as the crabapples. 

Coronavirus changes

Since Gov. Mike DeWine called for a stay-at-home order in March, which was later extended, the arboretum has seen increased visitation. Some policies needed to be put in place to keep the space safe for visitors, Veil said.

The children’s play area and Taylor Pavilion, where visitors normally use the picnic tables, are closed.

Paved pathways remain open, though visitors may notice new signage calling for social distancing. The signs also indicate bikes, skateboards and rollerblades are prohibited along the walkways.

“When the days are nice, we’ve had groups of teenagers that aren’t at school coming out and flying down the hills and around bends,” Veil said. “We have a lot of older visitors and young kids, and we don’t need a collision.”

Though Williams Road is blocked off for cars, people still can walk and ride their bikes there.

“Now it has the feel of sort of a European pedestrian alley or something where people can stroll and not worry about getting hit by a car, which is nice,” Veil said.

For more information about the crabapple bloom, visit the Secrest Arboretum website: secrest.osu.edu.

— Reporter Valerie Royzman can be reached at vroyzman@the-daily-record.com or on Twitter @valerieroyzman.