Milliken’s arboretum: ‘There’s a story to every tree’

At dinner on a Friday night in 1989, ideas for Milliken & Co.’s arboretum took root when horticulturist Stewart Winslow, landscape architect Rick Webel and textile magnate Roger Milliken lined up wine glasses to simulate trees.

Today, Winslow gives visitors a tour of the arbortum via golf cart. He stops near a granite marker placed not long after Milliken’s death in 2012.

The marker states: “His vision, values, integrity and boundless energy inspire all who follow in his footsteps.”

While stopped at this spot recently, Winslow remembered the day following that dinner in 1989.

“I had to take people over there to be trees,” he said, pointing across the rolling fields to a grove. “We had radios and (Milliken) would say, ‘To the right...’”

The wine glass trees became Green Vase zelkovas, the branches of which mimic the graceful curve of a glass. The trees line a gravel walkway to a fountain, which is bordered by Bracken Brown Beauty magnolias.

“We wanted a nice walkway entrance to the arboretum,” Winslow said. “It’s a nice place to come sit.”

Winslow, Webel, Milliken and Dick Webel – Rick’s father – also worked with Mike Dirr, considered a rock star in the plant world, to develop the greenspace. Dirr is known for his Endless Summer hydrangeas, and even dedicated a book he wrote on woody plants to Roger Milliken. Milliken & Co. began a partnership with Schmidt and Sons nursery in Boring, Ore., and to this day, the nursery sends a pair of each of the 15 new trees under development each year to plant at Milliken to test how they grow across the country, while Milliken & Co. tracks the plants’ growth rates, flower performance and fall color.

The arboretum the men built on 600 acres at the Roger Milliken Center adjacent to Interstate 585 is now one of the largest corporate greenspaces in the Southeast, according to the company. Before they started, on land that was once a peach orchard, there were no ponds or fountains. Even the peach trees were gone.

Now, the arboretum features more than 500 different trees and shrubs – many of which are rare to South Carolina – 15 decorative fountains and six ponds. The Milliken arboretum is one of five nationally recognized greenspaces in Spartanburg, which also include the Roger Milliken Arboretum at Wofford College, Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve, and those at the University of South Carolina Upstate and Spartanburg Community College.

The arboretum is open to the public, and Milliken employees often walk for exercise there. Residents walk their dogs and families are often seen feeding the numerous ducks and geese that flock to the ponds along the frontage road off I-585. On windy days, it’s not unusual to see a child running along the grass, trying to get a kite into the air. Spartanburg Community College’s horticulture students study plant life among the stately trees.

That’s what Roger Milliken had in mind in creating it – sharing it with others, and learning from it.

“He loved seeing people out here looking at the trees,” Winslow said. “He was always wanting to learn and to use this knowledge to better Milliken & Co., the community and the airport.”

Winslow is like a walking field guide, naming off the varieties of trees. The collection of magnolias from all over the world, which includes the more upright-shaped Hasse magnolia, is noteworthy enough to attract international visitors to the arboretum. There are flowering apricots with their twisted trunks, the first trees to flower in late December or early January, and a grove of 29 crab apples, which bloom in May and bear fruit during winter in a variety of colors.

A roughly 75-year-old Lacebark elm is likely the oldest tree on the property.

Roger Milliken founded the Noble Tree Foundation to beautify Spartanburg, using a Lacebark elm silhouette for the organization’s logo. The foliage from the Lacebark is the company’s sustainability logo.

In the middle of one pond is a water oak that rises from an island. Winslow shows off an oak planted in 2011, after the company’s rebranding. Employees brought dirt from their own homes to cover its roots.

Trident maple, Japanese cedar, Chinese pistachio, Princeton American elm, numerous hollies, contorted white pine, oaks – all now grow at the arboretum. The collection includes gifted trees from the DuPonts and Rockafellers.

“Mr. Milliken loved to give baby trees as gifts,” Winslow said. “He loved to walk customers through the trees.”

One of Roger Milliken’s favorite species was the tulip poplar. About three years ago, Winslow and Facilities Manager April Morris planted 60 Emerald City tulip poplars along a road on the property, the first planting of that type of clone in the world.

Earl Cully, who created the Shawnee Brave baldcypress, visited the arboretum at age 90, using a walker to get around, simply because he heard Roger Milliken had planted some of his trees.

“There’s a story to every tree,” Winslow said.

Morris has worked for Milliken & Co. for 15 years, including nine years at the Roger Milliken Center off I-585. Although she doesn’t have a horticulture background, she’s gleaned a wealth of information from working with Winslow and as caretaker of the arboretum, and she can name many of the tree species.

“I’m learning them – I soak up knowledge when I can,” Morris said. “I enjoy maintaining what (Roger Milliken) created, and trying to sustain his envisionment for that.”

This story was originally published July 27, 2015 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Milliken’s arboretum: ‘There’s a story to every tree’."