Bussey St. Gate, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
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.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Great scenery and exercise, who could want more? Take a brisk walk this winter and stay healthy and connected to the Arboretum at a time when the landscape is pared down to its beautiful bones. This walk emphasizes fitness, with a healthy dose of information on seasonal highlights. Winter tours are geared to adults and led by trained Arboretum docents.
After your tour, stay on for a warm drink and more conversation with your guide and staff in the Visitor Center.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Put down the hedge shears! Through both classroom instruction and hands-on field training, this class will include what’s, why's, and how’s of proper pruning approaches and techniques. Andrew Gapinski will focus on small ornamental trees, young shade trees, and shrubs with general approaches towards maintaining a plant’s natural form and encouraging health and vigor.
Note: Pruning for fruit production will not be covered in this offering. Dress for indoor and outdoor learning.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Winter is the barest of times in the Arboretum; however, there is much to see and much happening in the landscape. Join a docent for a walk on the bare side—notice shapes, textures, even the personalities of plants that are often missed when the land is heavy with green. You will see buds already forming and the dried seeds that are more visible when leaves are gone.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Families need nature at all times of the year! Meet inside the main gate at the Visitor Center. We’ll learn how Arboretum animals get ready for winter. Go on a StoryWalk, get a tattoo, and make a winter home for your favorite animal!
Free and open to all, this event is most suitable for children ages four through ten.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
Hunnewell Building Lawn, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Improve your health and well-being with yoga by practicing poses, breathing, and meditation in the tranquil setting of the Arnold Arboretum. In the case of inclement weather, the session will move indoors (Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall).
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)
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!
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...