The garrden, a collaboration between Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County and Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, has turned a previously unused, grass-covered space into a fertile, productive plot.

A century after a medical school alumnus gifted U-M with a collection of herbaceous peonies, the garden finally bears his name (not to mention 350 varieties of the flower). Donor W.E. Upjohn considered these blooms his ‘salvation.’ This June, they’re making music.

The cicadas can damage small trees and shrubs so the best defense is to cover vulnerable or smaller trees with mesh or netting; insecticides should not be used, experts say.

U-M’s historic peony garden, which has bloomed every spring for nearly 100 years, is closed to visitors this year. The risk from COVID-19 makes gathering at the garden impossible, but social media delivers virtual delights.

This beautiful video captures the Arb’s poetic wonder, offset by an excerpt from Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.”

Reclaiming one of the most precious and vulnerable gems in Nichols Arboretum.