Background

Fun Facts

  • Purchased by Harvard University in 1922, Weld Hill is named for the family who farmed here and buried some of their kin in the small cemetery on Peters Hill.

  • Plants chosen for the “cosmopolitan urban meadow” are selected to fulfill a number of ecological and aesthetic criteria. Tough perennial species with a range of bloom times provide visual interest and pollinating activity over the entire growing season.

  • The native and non-native species growing here thrive in typical urban soil and create a long-lived, attractive meadow. The hillside is mowed once a year—in fall—mainly to prevent incursions of woody plants and grasses.

About

In 2011, the Arboretum opened the Weld Hill Research Building in the northwest corner of the parcel to increase its capacity to conduct research in the plant sciences. Terraced into the hillside, the building occupies less than a quarter of the Weld Hill landscape. The remainder of the parcel is characterized by mature woodland and open pasture. Weld Hill itself rises 172 feet, planted from top to bottom with a wildflower mix developed by Senior Research Scientist Emeritus Peter Del Tredici.

Plants found in the cosmopolitan urban meadow include:

Plants found in the cosmopolitan urban meadow

Species NameCommon NamePlant FamilyBloom Time
Achillea millefoliumyarrowAsteraceaesummer
Aster (Symphytrichum) pilosuswhite heath asterAsteraceaefall
Cichorium intybuschicoryAsteraceaesummer
Leucanthemum vulgareoxeye daisyAsteraceaespring
Tanacetum vulgaretansyAsteraceaesummer
Rudbeckia hirtablackeyed SusanAsteraceaesummer
Lotus corniculatusbirdsfoot trefoilFabaceaespring
Trifolium hybridumalsike cloverFabaceaespring/summer
Trifolium repenswhite cloverFabaceaespring/summer
Vicia craccabird vetchFabaceaespring/summer
Lolium perenneperennial ryegrassPoaceaespring

Find directions and accessibility information for this collection.

411 Plants in this Collection

Plant ID Accession Date Received As Origin Source

Explorers Garden Tour

This quarter-mile tour through the Explorers Garden features stories from the Arboretum’s century and a half of collecting plants around the world. If you’re at the Arboretum, click here to take a version of this tour with Expeditions, our mobile web app.

Dove tree (Davidia involucrata)
Dove tree (Davidia involucrata).William (Ned) Friedman