Beyond the Hill and amid the real hills, a quiet battle is going on.
Right now, winter is winning. Trees lay felled by ice, and sled and ski tracks criss-cross the weekend's snow.
But as the silver maple buds and the fetterbush pokes out of its winter hibernation, spring is waging a counteroffense.
"As you look up the silver trunk of the tree, you see little bits of red," said Inger Schultz, the development officer for Nichols Arboretum.
The bursts of red from the silver maple are part of the early bloom season in the Arb, which will peak in mid-April and May. It is then that the characteristic explosion of wildflowers and blooming trees will dot the landscape.
"It's a quiet space - a quiet space of green in the middle of the city," Schultz said.
A serene place nestled near University Hospitals and North Campus, the Arb was founded in 1907 when alumni Esther and Walter Nichols donated 27.5 acres to the University. The landscape was designed by University alumnus O.C. Simonds, founder of the SNRE landscape architecture department.
Today, the Arb is a 123-acre patch of green with entrances on Geddes Road and behind Mary Markley Residence Hall. The terrain includes the Huron River, wetlands, wooded glens and a 20-acre prairie.
"You could really start anywhere and probably get lost, but probably have fun doing it," said Andrea Urbiel, aN SNRE and Art junior. "I always find new places I've never been before, but the prairie is one of my favorites."
Urbiel spent last summer compiling a history of the Arb based on interviews and memories from people who have visited for more than 40 years.
"It's their stories and the story of me getting their stories," she said.
Urbiel is currently working on getting the book, titled "Oral Histories of Nichols Arboretum," published.
"They're mostly stories people could have told me about now," she said. "They went after classes, they went with a girl."
But the Arb is more than a place to walk a dog, take a run or sit by the river. It is more than a river that babbles and birds that sing.
"It's not just a park - it's a living museum," Schultz said.
The Arb's landscape, designed for visual quality, sets it apart from parks as does the wide variety of vegetation.
"Each individual plant there has its own history," Schultz said. The Japanese Umbrella-pine, for example, was brought from Japan to Massachusetts by a Harvard botanist. After sitting in a greenhouse for more than a year, the tree was planted with the hopes that it would survive a New England winter. When it did, cuttings were mailed across the country to other arboreta, including Nichols.
More than 64 species throughout the Arb are marked with diamonds, and more than 500 trees and shrubs are labeled. The collection includes trees from around Michigan, the United States and the world.
"What it does is bring the world closer to us," Schultz said. "It's alive - it changes every day."
Several SNRE classes have labs in the Arb, along with some other University classes that take field trips there. Tours of the Arb are given on the third Sunday of every month at 2 p.m. beginning at the peony garden. April's tour, to kick off Arbor Week, will take special notice of the international collection of trees.
Also currently in bloom now are skunk cabbage, which Schultz describes as "hideous little things." The plants generate their own heat to melt the snow around them and attract flies and beetles with an odor resembling a skunk.
Blooming times are available on the Arb's Web page, located at http://www.umich.edu/~snrewww/arb.
While the collections are always changing with the seasons, new projects are underway to restore some gardens that have become overgrown. The lilac collection, fondly remembered by many people with whom Urbiel spoke, is currently being renewed to its former scenic - and scented - glory.
"It's kind of embedded in the memories of some older people in town," Schultz said. "But over the past 50 years, nobody had done anything to it."
The restoration process, which was also done in the peony garden located near the Washington Heights entrance, includes finding some of the original varieties that were first planted there.
For most students and Ann Arbor residents, though, the Arb is a quiet place to experience the serenity - and the upheaval of nature.
"They probably use it as a quiet place to get away from class, the bustle, the hurly burly of every day," Schultz said, "to get back in touch with reality."
Urbiel agreed.
"It's in a unique position in the city, especially Ann Arbor, where people need space," she said. "They need to still be connected with green. Especially on this campus, where there is a heck of a lot of concrete, green things are very important."
Nature in the springtime
Nature around Ann Arbor is blooming in other places besides Nichols Arboretum.
The Outdoor Recreation Center (ODR), located in the North Campus Recreation Building, rents out sporting and camping equipment on a first-come, first-serve basis. While there are rental rates, there is no additional user fee for students or faculty members with a current Rec Sports User Pass. This equipment ranges from tents to volleyball sets to bike helmets and canoes, which can be loaded on a car and taken to water.
ODR also sponsors trips and outings for people interested in hiking, caving, climbing or other outdoor pursuits. In addition, ODR holds clinics on topics such as bike repair, kayaking and outdoor cooking.
The next scheduled trip, May 16-18, is a caving trip to southern Indiana on.
Trips are arranged for a wide range of ability, from beginners to more experienced participants.
"We get a huge representation of the climbing community," employee Michelle Ferrarese said. "Not that it's that big."
Even though ODR is not widely publicized, Ferrarese said all of its approximately 20 tents will be rented on a nice spring or summer weekend.
More information about ODR can be obtained from its Website, http://www.recsports.umich.edu/ODR/, or by calling 764-3967.
Gallup Park, on Fuller Road along the Huron River, also beckons spring-seekers, especially those looking to rollerblade or take a nature walk. Other options include bike rental, a playground, picnic tables and grills, canoe rental beginning April 5, and fishing.
The Matthaei Botanical Gardens, located at 1800 N. Dixboro Rd., is also available for those who want to wander through the wilderness. The gardens include an indoor conservatory, which is open from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily, and outdoor trails, which are open from 8 a.m. until sunset seven days a week.
"The outdoors is definitely waking up," said Liz Elling, visitor programs coordinator at Matthaei.
The reddish-pink blossoms of the hazelnut shrubs are appearing, the fuzzy buds of the aspen are emerging and the wildlife is beginning to come out of its winter hibernation.
"There's just more noise of the animals," Elling said.
In recent days, herons, crayfish, groundhogs and several types of birds are returning.
"There's just more activity," Elling said.
A little green
In the weeks between spring and winter, the battle continues between the emerging nature and the stubborn weather. Snow-covered trees sprout buds, water washes away the ice and turns the ground into mud. Birds announce their return from winter retreats, singing the soon-to-be-triumphant songs of spring.
FILE PHOTO
Joe Howard, caretaker of the Nichols Arborteum, walks along one of its many paths.