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    Fall Into Health

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Fall is one of the most beautiful times of the year to visit the Arboretum. Explore the less-traveled paths of the Arboretum on informative walks designed for enjoyment, health, and learning about this special landscape. Pause to hear about interesting plants and unique collections. Please dress appropriately and bring water.

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    Propagating Semi-Hardwood Cuttings

    Location: 

    Dana Greenhouse Classroom, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Enhance your garden! Join Manager of Plant Production Tiffany Enzenbacher to learn how to propagate woody plants from fall cuttings. Students will collect and stick cuttings of several taxa (Ilex and Rhododendron to name a few), and will take their propagules home. After rooting, small plants may be ready to transplant as early as next year. Post-class nurturing will be required.

    Fee for all materials is included in the cost of the class. Students should bring their own pruners to class.

    Cost: $42 for members; $52 for nonmembers...

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    Adversity, Belonging, and Survival Among Baboons

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History for a public lecture with Susan Alberts, Robert F. Durden Professor of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University. 

    The social environment—both in early life and adulthood—has major effects on human health and survival. But how and why does the social environment get “under the skin” to also affect our physical health? Susan Alberts pursues this question by studying wild baboons in Kenya. Baboons, like humans, evolved as savannah dwellers. They rely on social relationships to solve problems and—like humans...

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    Photography with Chris Morgan

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Chris Morgan is fascinated by the patterns and textures in nature, the shapes of trees, and the movements of birds. He captures these beautifully in his photographs, which were on display at the Arnold Arboretum in the winter of 2019.

    In this program, Chris will discuss his photographic interests and methods in the classroom and then move outdoors to demonstrate his techniques. Class participants will be able to learn alongside Chris, evaluating views, debating camera angles, and considering focal points in order to shoot better images. Participants should bring their...

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    Compost Compendium

    Location: 

    Weld Hill Building and Landscape, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Horticulturist Conor Guidarelli manages the Arnold Arboretum’s organic materials recycling area and has recently improved the production and quality of the resulting compost. Conor will discuss the components of compost and the nutrients that can be returned to a site when compost is applied. He will explain the mix of brown to green materials, moisture, and aeration. Class participants will start in the classroom and then travel to the Arboretum’s materials yard to see compost in various stages of development.

    Cost: $20 for members; $30 for nonmembers

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    Fabulous Fungus Fair

    Location: 

    Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Explore the wondrous world of fungi! Join Harvard students for a closer look at the mushrooms, yeasts, and molds found in gardens, forests, and labs—even in our own refrigerators. This is an opportunity to investigate fungal diversity and participate in hands-on activities led by Harvard students.

    Note: Regular museum admission rates apply.

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    Voices of the Rainforest

    Location: 

    Harvard Art Museums, Menschel Hall, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

    Voices of the Rainforest is an experiential documentary about the ecological and aesthetic coevolution of Papua New Guinea’s Bosavi rainforest region and its inhabitants. The film immerses viewers in the rainforest, making myriad connections between the everyday sounds of the rainforest biosphere and the creative practices of the Bosavi people who sing to, with, and about it.

    Following the screening, Steven Feld will discuss the film with Amahl Bishara, an associate professor of anthropology at Tufts University.

    ...

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    Reptile Day

    Location: 

    Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Celebrate reptiles! Join Harvard students from the Harvard College Conservation Society for a variety of reptile themed activities including a scavenger hunt, storytime, and crafts. Come learn about the history and diversity of reptiles, and why they need to be conserved! All ages are welcome.

    Please note: Regular museum admission rates apply.

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    Collections Up Close: Fruits of the Bradley Rosaceous Collection

    Location: 

    Bradley Rosaceous Collection, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Join the Arnold Arboretum for tours, family activities, and festivities inviting you to discover the diversity of the rose family (Rosaceae) which includes more than four thousand species. Many of the rose family taxa are of great importance to humans and the agricultural economy, and are vulnerable to extreme weather that is becoming the new norm. Come learn more about the many fruits of the rose family, a welcome buffet for our local wildlife.

    ...

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    Guided Tour: Exciting Introductions or Stealth Invaders?

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Invasive plants are a real concern in our parks, gardens, and other public places. Many were intentionally introduced because of their horticultural value. How do we define invasive, and how did these plants get into our landscape? Join Arboretum docent Marty Amdur to see examples in the Arboretum landscape and gain a better understanding of this issue.

    Learn more about and...

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    Research in the Collections: A Scientific Exploration of the Arnold Arboretum

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    The Arnold Arboretum provides both extensively documented collections for research and the facilities for the researchers—labs, greenhouses, and growing chambers. From around the world, scientists come to use the trees and shrubs in the Arboretum landscape, studying climate change, plant evolution, natural selection, and species adaptation. Join docent Esther Miller to hear about the science of the Arboretum.

    ...

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    Art Workshop: Revealing the Wild Print

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Join the Arboretum's exhibiting artist, Steffanie Schwam, in this hands-on workshop. You will make your own unique monoprint on paper or fabric, using leaves from the Arboretum's collections, paint, printmaking tools, recycled materials, and the inspiration of the surrounding landscape.

    Note: This workshop is appropriate for ages 8 and up. An adult must accompany anyone between ages 8–12.

    Cost: $15 for members; $25 for nonmembers.

    ...

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    Fall Forest Bathing

    Location: 

    Bussey St. Gate, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    This slow-paced guided therapeutic experience promotes wellness through a series of gentle sensory-opening invitations that welcome us to notice more of our natural surroundings. By deepening our connection with the natural world and each other, we open ourselves up to the healing medicine of the forest. Forest Bathing is part of a global effort to tend to the stressful conditions of living in modern industrialized civilization.

    Cost: $25 for members; $35 for nonmembers

    ...

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    Tree Spotters Citizen Science Program: Basic Training

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    With nearly 4,000 different kinds of plants represented in the Arboretum's living collections, every day presents rich opportunities to see something new. If you enjoy learning about plants and their unique characteristics, you can contribute to science as a participant in the Arnold Arboretum's Tree Spotters program. This citizen science project opens a window into the Arboretum's phenology: the timing of natural events, such as the leafing out and flowering of trees in the spring and changing foliage colors in the fall. Your observations will assist Arboretum scientists in their...

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    Fall Birding

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    This autumn, experience the birds of the Arboretum with expert birder and Arboretum volunteer, Bob Mayer and/or staff birding aficionado, Brendan Keegan. Catch a glimpse of migrating birds as they fly south and get acquainted with the Arboretum's resident birds as well. Bring binoculars if you have them; some binoculars will be available to share. Beginners and seasoned birders are welcome!

    Bob Mayer:
    September 14 (meet at Arborway Gate)
    September 28 (meet at Peters Hill Gate)

    Brendan Keegan:
    September 21 (meet at Arborway...

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    Bonsai Matching

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Most of the species seen as bonsai in the Arboretum’s Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection can also be found in the landscape. Explore the history and culture of bonsai and the Arboretum’s relationship with these plants, and compare bonsai with their “unrestricted” counterparts in the landscape. See ginkgo, trident maple, bald cypress, hinoki cypress, and more, large and small!

    ...

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    Angiosperms and Gymnosperms: The Basics

    Location: 

    Centre Street Gate, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    What better place to look for the differences between angiosperms (plants that flower and have enclosed seeds), and gymnosperms (plants with "naked seeds," including conifers, ginkgos and others), than in the Arnold Arboretum landscape, where over 15,000 plants reside in a living museum. Join the Arboretum's guide, Florrie Wescoat, as she points out trees in both groups and describes the characteristics of each.

    ...

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    Tree Spotters Citizen Science Program: Basic Training

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    With nearly 4,000 different kinds of plants represented in the Arboretum's living collections, every day presents rich opportunities to see something new. If you enjoy learning about plants and their unique characteristics, you can contribute to science as a participant in the Arnold Arboretum's Tree Spotters program. This citizen science project opens a window into the Arboretum's phenology: the timing of natural events, such as the leafing out and flowering of trees in the spring and changing foliage colors in the fall. Your observations will assist Arboretum scientists in their...

    Read more about Tree Spotters Citizen Science Program: Basic Training

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