Explore The Arboretum
A hidden gem in Webster, NY, the arboretum offers 1½ miles of trails through gardens, groves, and woodlands, showcasing native and unique trees and plants. Highlights include a conifer garden with boulders and a 'river of stone,' a flower-shaped herb garden, a circular bulb garden, and collections of perennials, dahlias, and daylilies. Relax by the fountain pond, explore creek beds with waterfalls, and enjoy scenic bridges. The arboretum is home to many native birds and provides picnic areas near the Curry Building. In winter, it’s perfect for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Dogs are welcome (on leash).
Located Behind the Curry Building
Conifer (Pinetum) Garden
The Webster Arboretum has a lovely conifer garden located behind the Curry Building and to the right. Meander along the paths through this beautifully maintained conifer garden.
Conifer does not necessarily mean conical. These trees range in size and shape from giants of the forest to plants that are very flat.
Their different growth habits give landscape designers many elements to work with. (Information obtained from the American Conifer Society).
For more detailed information about conifers visit www2.conifersociety.org
Located in the conifer garden
Trees of Interest
Japanese Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys): A Living Fossil
In its native Japan, umbrella pine is called koyamaki. It was once considered one of the “Five Sacred Trees of Kiso” (an area near Kyoto), which common folks were forbidden to cut down.
On Mt. Kiso today, natives buy koyamaki branches to put on loved ones’ graves. They believe that the spirits of their ancestors can return to the world of the living by touching a koyamaki branch.
Japanese umbrella pine isn’t really a pine at all, but belongs to a family of its own, Sciadopityaceae. Umbrella pine has existed for 230 million years—even before the dinosaurs.
It used to be found in North America and Europe; now Japan is the only place it’s found in the wild. If you can’t make it to Japan, this specimen can be found at The Webster Arboretum.
Umbrella pine gets its name from the way each bunch of its soft evergreen needles are whorled around the stem—like the ribs of an umbrella.
The needles are flexible and glossy, and like the leaves of many fir trees, they seem to have been molded out of plastic.
Throughout the Arboretum
Bird Watching
Bird watching at the Webster Arboretum. Below you will find just a few of the bird varieties that have been sited at The Webster Arboretum. It is an ideal location to watch and study our native birds.
Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers
with a gentle expression and handsome black-
scalloped plumage.
The Canada goose (Branta canadensis) is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body.
Morning Doves are a graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet
straight. Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or
whinnying sound.
Black Capped Chickadee: This tiny, plump-bodied, big-headed bird is a familiar woodland resident and backyard visitor in the northern U.S. and Canada. Gray overall with light buffy flanks and a contrasting head pattern: black cap, white cheek, and black throat. Short, stubby bill is used for hammering open seeds.
White-breasted Nuthatches are active, agile little birds with an appetite for insects and large, meaty seeds. They get their common name from their habit of jamming large nuts and acorns into tree bark, then whacking them with their sharp bill to “hatch” out the seed from the inside. White-breasted Nuthatches may be small, but their voices are loud, and often their insistent nasal yammering will lead you right to them.
The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They’re a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can’t take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals don’t migrate and they don’t molt into a dull plumage, so they’re still breathtaking in winter’s snowy backyards. In
summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning.
After years of preparation, the Fruit Demonstration Garden at The Webster Arboretum is nearly complete. These fruits were selected to show what can be grown in your backyard with minimal maintenance. All of our selections are dwarf varieties, hardy in our area and disease resistant. They will not be sprayed.
The Fruit Demonstration Garden
The following selections may be found in our newly established fruit garden.
Hardy kiwi Vine (Actinidia arguta) is a cold-hardy cousin of the vine that produces the familiar kiwi fruit sold at grocery stores. This cold-tolerant cultivar can be grown in USDA zones 3 through 8, depending on the variety. Like its warm-weather cousin, hardy kiwi also produces a sweet edible fruit that is smaller than a traditional kiwi (about the size of a large grape) and can be eaten whole, without peeling. Hardy kiwi is primarily featured in landscapes for its attractive heart-shaped foliage. This climber grows well on strong trellises, fences, pergolas, and other structures.
The Bonfire Patio Peach Tree is a compact dwarf purple-leaf peach with beautiful spring blossoms covering every branch. Beautiful trees even when not in bloom. In April the Bonfire Patio Peach tree is covered in stunning pink blooms that have a coral pink eye. The blooms are quickly replaced by long dark purple leaves. This tree only grows 4-7′ tall and can be used as a container on a patio. Perfect for small spaces. Used mainly for ornamental, landscape purposes.
The Black Tartarian Cherry Tree requires full sun, and this dwarf selection grows to about 8-10 feet. You will actually need room for two trees, as this variety is not self-pollinating. Any other sweet cherry will work as a pollinator. Without an additional tree, your Black Tartarian will not produce fruit. This heirloom sweet cherry is loved for its beautiful white flowers and dark purplish-black fruits, which are just as delicious in preserves as they are when eaten right off of the tree.
The Viking Currant, popularly known as 'Rote Hollandische', is a red powerhouse cultivar with origins in Norway. Highly resilient to white pine blister, it is an excellent choice for growers seeking a low-maintenance, high-yield crop. With its vigorous growth, cold tolerance, and exceptional disease and pest resistance, this currant variety outshines its counterparts. It produces delectable red berries that are guaranteed to please even the most critical taste buds.
The Blanka Current is a delightful white currant that produces heavy clusters of off-white berries on long strigs. The fruit starts tart but sweetens as it ripens, making it perfect for winemaking, juice, or fresh snacking right from your garden. This easy-to-grow, vigorous, mid-season variety features a spreading growth habit, making it a charming and productive addition to any home garden. Blanka is recommended for growers in hardiness zones 3–7.
Captivator Gooseberry is a deep red gooseberry suitable for culinary and edible use, fairly disease resistant and almost thornless, just a few on new growth. A deciduous shrub with a spreading bushy habit and mid-green lobed leaves. White flowers appear March to April and steady picking of the fruit begins in July. The Gooseberry is self-fertile. Gooseberries generally ripen in early summer, just after strawberries and produce large, teardrop-shaped fruit that is pink and sweet when ripe.
'Jeanne ‘Gooseberry is suitable for USDA zones 3-7. It grows 2-3 ft in height and 4-6 ft in width. The deep maroon-red fruits are medium in size, averaging five grams. The flavor is full and sweet. Yields are higher than other gooseberry cultivars due to the high resistance to powdery mildew and other fungal diseases which affect other cultivars. The flowering and fruit ripening of the Jeanne is late, yielding the first ripe fruits in mid to late July 2-3 years after planting.
Golden Treat Apple is a beautiful golden apple with a sweet, delicious flavor. It ripens early mid-season. It is a columnar tree that produces fruit on spurs along the main stem. It is disease resistance and can be grown in small spaces. The Golden Treat has a narrow upright habit, ideally suited to grow in a container on a patio or as a small tree in the ground. Trees grow about 8' tall. Like other apples, you need two different cultivars for pollination. USDA Zone: 4-9
'Tasty Red' Apple is a bright red, firm, sweet, juicy apple that ripens early mid-season. Tasty Red is a columnar tree that produce fruit on spurs along the main stem. It has a narrow upright habit and is ideally suited to grow in a container, on a patio, or as a small tree in the ground. Trees grow to about 8' tall. Like other apples, you will need two different cultivars for pollination. They are highly disease resistant and grow in USDA Zones 4-9.
The Chicago Hardy Fig Tree is known for being especially cold hardy and producing small, brown to purple-colored figs. The inside of the fruit is colored a lovely shade that looks like strawberry jam. This plant is also known as the Bensonhurst Purple fig or Hardy Chicago. It is productive and easy to grow, exhibiting drought-tolerance once established. The Chicago Hardy may die back in colder climates and resume growth in the spring. It bears fruit early on the new growth. Figs that grow on the older wood will appear in early summer. This plant is heat tolerant and self-pollinating.
