The Arboretum is not hosting a Holiday House Tour this year. Information found online may be old and inaccurate. Please always check our website calendar for current events. Thank you!  SUNDAY DEC 10: Festival of Trees is rain or shine! We are prepared for all weather forecasts and look forward to a fun day!

Blog

The Butterfly [A]ffect(ed)

I was supposed to write about pollinator gardens, but Hurricane Isaias changed that.
. . . but did it really?  Bear with me as I meander and perhaps stretch a metaphor to its breaking point.

"You could not remove a single grain of sand from its place without thereby ... changing something throughout all parts of the immeasurable whole."
— Fic...

Read More

Will Climate Change Affect Maple Sugaring?

As I reflect on this past weekend's 60+ degree days, it's hard to imagine climate change not affecting maple sugaring since it is so dependent on weather. I am often asked why we tap our maple trees in the winter; wouldn't it be more enjoyable hiking out to check the buckets and tap the trees when it is 60 degrees? It most definitely would be; however, it is the alternating freezing and thawing cycle that occurs in late winter that controls the sap flow.

Studi...

Read More

Bonsai, The Living Art

First of all, it's pronounced "bone-sigh," not banzai. Bonsai means "potted plant" in Japanese, an appropriately understated description of a great – and greatly misunderstood – art form. Banzai, on the other hand, is a Japanese war cry, derived from the phrase "may you live ten thousand years." It seems a little counterintuitive to wish your enemy ten millenia of life, but in fact, this wish was intended for their emperor. The English equivalent might be "God save the king". What ever ba...

Read More