Gems Hiding in Plain Sight: The Betty Cary Arboretum

Towering far above the back of the Sharpless building is an American Sycamore with mottled gray and beige bark. From its perch in the corner of the Dead Graveyard, this ancient giant of a tree has silently observed decades of Germantown history. 

It’s the same tree that witnessed the rise of every building around it—from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to the Friends Free Library and GFS’ Main Building. It saw Germantown Avenue transform from a bumpy borough road into a bustling city artery. It may even have stood watch on a foggy fall day in 1777, as American and British soldiers turned the neighborhood into a Revolutionary War battleground.

This roughly 250-year old American Sycamore is estimated to be the oldest tree on GFS’ campus. It is a rare gem for the community and one of the many that make up the school’s Betty Cary Arboretum.

For nearly seventy years between 1945 and 2014, Betty Cary was a fixture of the GFS community in various capacities––she was a teacher, substitute, office assistant, horticulturalist, and eventually, a volunteer. Generations of GFS students recognized her as someone who seemed to know everything there was to know about the school and its gardens. She loved learning the Latin names of trees and plants, teaching students about the different species, and would have strong opinions about what trees to plant on campus.

The arboretum’s certification in her memory began after her death in 2015 when the school planted a parrotia tree in what is now “Betty’s Triangle” between the Common and the Cary building.

Faculty and staff, among them Andrew DeGothseir, the school’s former horticulturalist, and Nick Dobrowolski, the current Director of Buildings and Grounds, began identifying and tagging trees, eventually earning the school an official Level 1 arboretum certification from the ArbNet program in the fall of 2017. The Level 1 accreditation emphasizes the need for planned continuity, ability to care for the arboretum, public access, and a minimum collection of 25 unique species of trees or woody plants.

Between the main campus and fields, GFS cares for more than 230 different species of trees—475 individuals in all. In addition to the revolutionary-era American Sycamore in the Dead Graveyard, several of them have stunning stories for those who would gather under their shade to learn.

In a peaceful garden set back from Coulter Street beside the Alumni building is the great-great grandchild of the elm tree under which Lenape Chief Tamanend and William Penn met in 1682. It was donated by the Class of 1949 to mark the occasion of their 70th reunion in May 2019. The original elm tree was felled by a storm in the early spring of 1810; its descendants have been planted in Philadelphia and across the country.

According to PA Big Trees, a database of trees across Pennsylvania, GFS is home to at least one PA state champion for its species’ size and scale: an elegant Cornelian Cherry Dogwood lounging in the shade of the Friends Free Library. One runner up is a massive, dark Willow Oak along the driveway beside the Meetinghouse which was planted after the front of the Main Building was completed in 1940.

And it is hard to miss the school’s pair of ginkgo trees when walking past the Cary building––in the fall especially with their stunning yellow fan-shaped leaves. These particular trees were donated by Karl Mertz in 1935 as a gift from the Class of 1935. Originally, GFS had both male and female varieties, though the females were removed in the early 90’s because students kept tracking the foul-smelling berries they dropped throughout campus!

The title of tallest tree on campus goes to a Shagbark Hickory outside of the Barbara and David Loeb Performing Arts Center. It can be seen rising high above campus with its lovely foliage and perpetually peeling bark. It was added to the GFS collection of flora when the Christian Science Building was acquired in 1985.

These are just a handful of the trees that make up the Betty Cary Arboretum. When walking through campus, many trees, shrubs, and flowers display descriptions or QR codes that direct you to Plants Map, where you can learn more about the arboretum and each featured tree. Or, have a seat in the heart of campus in front of a young parrotia tree and reflect on the deep roots of history, care, and community that have made Germantown Friends the school it is today.