The Arboretum
The Arboretum > Gardens and Plants
Wister Plants
Dr. John Caspar Wister (1887 - 1982)
Dr. Wister was the first director of Tyler Arboretum (1946-1968). He was a member of a prominent Philadelphia area family, which included the 18th century physician Caspar Wister, after whom the species wisteria was named. Dr. Wister developed the concept of the Arboretum as it is today, maintaining both cultivated and natural areas. He planned and laid out such features as the cherry, lilac, magnolia, rhododendron, and crabapple collections, as well as the Pinetum and trail system.
While Dr. Wister was director at Tyler, he was also the first director of what is now the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College. This dual role gave Dr. Wister the unique opportunity to complement his research at Scott using the extensive natural areas of Tyler for planting and observing specimens. His annual reports indicate that at one time Tyler held an extensive collection of both herbaceous and woody peonies, and one of the most important daffodil collections in the area.
The early years were devoted to clearing areas intended for planting. In the early 1950s Dr. Wister produced a plan of the "Wister Loop," a circular trail linking the collections of lilacs, crabapples, cherries and magnolias. In 1952, Dr. Wister described his vision, "The varieties were most carefully chosen, and are believed to be the finest in existence at the present time. Given five or ten years of good growth and a minimum of care, they should make this portion of the grounds a beauty spot unsurpassed in any public garden."
Dr. Wister's early annual reports describe a seemingly impenetrable tangle of overgrown trees and vines on the long neglected property. These photographs show the Arboretum in the 1940s, and as it appears today.
The Rhododendron Collection
The Rhododendron Collection is now undergoing Phase 1 of a $2.2 million, multiyear, phased stewardship program to improve the health, appearance, and way-finding of the collection.
Renovations to this Collection are due, in part, to generous support from The Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust, the Arcadia Foundation, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services' Museums for America program.
“Nurtured within Tyler Arboretum is a hidden treasure. It is a legacy so special and unique that its existence alone places it as a nationally and locally important resource. This horticultural jewel is the Wister Rhododendron Collection. Growing pleasantly beneath the shade of second-growth tulip trees, oaks, ashes, and maples, the collection represents the culmination of one of this country’s great rhododendron breeders, Dr. John Casper Wister.” (Robert Herald, September 6, 2005)
It took years before Dr. Wister was able to begin planting the extensive rhododendron collection adjacent to the Pinetum. Cultivated fields in the 1930s and 1940s, by the 1950s Dr. Wister described the area as a thick jungle of weedy tulip and ash trees, many of which had blown down in a hurricane in 1954 and snowstorm in 1958. Compounded by inadequate labor, planting was impossible until 1959. Dr. Wister described the establishment of the Pinetum rhododendrons as the most important development undertaken at the Arboretum, and by the end of 1959 the collection numbered more than 500 rhododendrons and 200 azaleas. He wrote, "These quantities are not so important as the number of species, varieties and hybrid strains… these alone should make a collection second to none in Pennsylvania."
In 2004, Tyler began an initiative to improve the Wister Rhododendron Collection beginning with a complete assessment of the plants making up this Collection. Robert Herald, a noted expert in the field, was retained to conduct such an evaluation. In his work, which took several months to complete, Herald based his analysis on several factors: historical significance, unusual or rare cultivars not available in other public collections, plant health, aesthetic and display contributions, and educational value.
Herald reports that “there exists no other public collection in the northeastern United States that can compare in horticultural diversity, condition, and importance” than Tyler ’s Wister Rhododendron Collection. We invite you to visit and discover this amazing collection for yourself!
The Magnolia Collection
Planting of the magnolia collection began in 1951, with the assistance of the Hill and Hollow Garden Club. Prized for their broad range of flower types, colors and fragrances, the magnolia collection includes important Asiatic, native and hybrid varieties including the late-blooming "Little Girl Hybrid" series, developed by the National Arboretum.
The Crabapple Collection
The crabapple collection was planted from 1951-1953 along a sweeping looped path known as the crabapple trail, linking the cherry and the lilac collections. By 1959, there were 95 crabapple trees representing more than 40 species and varieties.
The collection contains American and Asiatic species and garden hybrids in a broad range of pink, red and white spring flowers, and superb displays of autumn fruit.
The Ornamental Cherry Collection
The ornamental cherry collection was begun in 1951 with 45 plants, representing 23 species and varieties, most of which were donated by the Scott Foundation of Swarthmore College. These splendid Yoshino cherry trees planted along Painter Road make a dramatic display in spring.
