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    The World of Witch-Hazels: An Arboretum Tour

    Location: 

    125 Arborway, Hunnewell Building, Boston

    In the Arnold Arboretum there is a tree or shrub in bloom every month of the year--including February! This winter phenomenon is only possible because of the witch-hazel family. From witch-hazel to fothergilla to parrotia, the family includes some of the most botanically fascinating and horticulturally valuable plants for the temperate garden. Join Andrew Gapinski, Head of Horticulture at the Arnold Arboretum, for a very special mid-winter walk to explore the beauty of the Arboretum's witch-hazel family collection, and its captivating history of development, evaluation, and scientific...

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    Arboretum for Educators: Tree Study Part 3: Conifer Adaptations

    Location: 

    125 Arborway, Hunnewell Building, Boston

    Arboretum for Educators monthly explorations are a professional development opportunity for elementary and middle school teachers to introduce the Arboretum landscape as an outdoor classroom. Participants learn about specific hands-on life science topics that may be used or adapted by teachers for their own classrooms and outdoor spaces. Meet and network with other like-minded educators, and engage in life science learning.

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    Conifers in Winter

    Location: 

    Bussey Street Gate, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
    Docent Robbie Apfel leads this winter walk in an exploration of the Arboretum's conifer collection. Beginning from the Bussey Street Gate, you will be introduced to the Arboretum's grand gymnosperms, learn the botany of conifers, and hear about Hemlock Hill's evolving ecosystem. This tour will also introduce you to native and non-native conifers in the winter landscape.
     
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    Monthly Bird Walks Through the Winter

    Location: 

    Arborway Gate, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
    Join Arnold Arboretum's Brendan Keegan for an easy walk looking for winter birds. In January, Brendan will discuss how species alter their behaviors, diets, and/or bodies to survive the colder temperatures. For his February walk that meets at the Bussey Street Gate, you will listen for, and discuss bird calls, and talk about owl mating season. The March walk on St. Patrick's Day will be a talk about breeding behaviors, the competitive reality of bird song, and include a check on Chickadee nesting tubes for signs of activity.

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    Smartphone Photography: Winter Landscapes Enhanced

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    Capture the essence of winter, when landscapes present a diluted palette of colors and contrasts are most striking. Professional photographer Nancy Katz will introduce fundamental concepts of landscape photography and then teach techniques for getting the best photographs from your smartphone camera. You will capture images in color and black and white, then learn to enhance them using a host of editing tools provided in the Snapseed App. (Note: Nancy Katz was...

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    Winter Wellness Walk

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    Take a healthy walk through the cool landscape of the Arboretum with a docent. You will enjoy the pared down beauty of our woody plant collection and hear about the Arboretum's history and highlights. After the walk, warm up in the Visitor Center with hot chocolate or tea, and talk more with your docent guide and Arboretum staff members.

     

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    Nature Journal Workshop

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    Join botanical artist, Regina Gardner Milan, in this Nature Journal Workshop. Participants, ages 8-12, will develop observational skills while learning a new awareness of their environment. Seed pods, pine cones, and other plant material will be available for observation and drawing. If weather permits, you will go on a short walk to collect more specimens. Milan will do demonstrations of drawing and documenting important details, and then you will try your own hand at creating a personal nature journal....

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    Landscape for Life

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    This intensive introductory course will provide you with the knowledge, skills, and understanding to create a great-looking garden that is healthier for you, your family, and the environment. This class is based on the principles of the Sustainable Sites Initiative, the nation’s first rating system for sustainable landscapes. The comprehensive curriculum covers a range of topics, including soils, water, plants, and landscape materials.
    Fee $185 member, $218 nonmember

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    Winter Birding!

    Location: 

    Arborway Gate, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    Start your new year off on an easy 90-minute walk from the Arboretum's main Arborway Gate to the ponds and back. Our docent and experienced birder, Bob Mayer, will focus on winter birds, as well as admiring the woody plant collection in winter. Beginners, as well as more experienced birders, are welcome on the tour. Bring binoculars if you have them; some binoculars will be available to share. See the Arnold Arboretum's website for ...

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    Growing Woody Plants from Hardwood Cuttings

    Location: 

    Dana Greenhouse Classroom, 1050 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    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 Pieris 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...

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    What Nature Sounds Are Music?

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    Bird song, whale song, bug song? Are these sounds really music? What of the whistle of the wind? David Rothenberg, author of three books, Why Birds Sing, Bug Music, and Survival of the Beautiful, will do his best to answer these questions and fuel further thinking about noise, communication, and song in nature. A composer and jazz clarinetist,...

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    Origins of the Green Revolution: Hybrid Seeds, Hunger, and Mexico-India Cooperation

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

    Gabriela Soto Laveaga, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University

    As a devastating famine gripped India and Pakistan in 1966, a cargo of hybrid wheat seeds from Mexico arrived one fateful day on India’s coast. The seeds were first planted across the Punjab region using new...

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    The Secret Lives of Roots

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    The Arnold Arboretum is full of spectacular specimens from around the world that any visitor will appreciate. However, what they observe is only half the story. How a tree uptakes water and nutrients, stays grounded in place, stores energy, and sometimes even propagates itself, is all thanks to its roots. Join horticulturists Andrew Gapinski and Conor Guidarelli as they unearth these questions and more during an exclusive look into the extraordinary world of roots.

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    Introduction to Bonsai

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    Bonsai is the ancient Japanese method of growing and caring for a tree whose growth is restricted by the size of the shallow pot in which it is planted and by the pruning of its branches and roots. In this class, Glen Lord, who consults for the Arnold Arboretum’s bonsai (Japanese) and penjing (Chinese) collection of dwarf potted plants, will speak first about the history of bonsai. He will then demonstrate the methods employed in creating and caring for a bonsai. Participants will plant a tropical specimen and learn about basic pruning, styling...

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    The First 25 Years: How the Arboretum Became the Arboretum

    Location: 

    Centre Street Gate, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

    The Arnold Arboretum did not come into existence full-formed, but had a long adolescence before it (literally) blossomed at 50. Our first director, Charles Sargent, prepared a 50-year report in 1922, before the end of his own 54-year tenure. But, what about the first 25 years? We don't have a 25-year report, however, we do have photos and the engaging stories from that time.

    Join our docent to hear those stories, as she takes you on a timeline...

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    Fabulous Fungus Fair

    Location: 

    Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

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

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