3 Ways to Celebrate Summer!

The first calendar day of summer is June 21, but we like to celebrate as soon as the average daily temperature is over 75. Isn't that something to celebrate, especially after a brutal winter?! We think so. So, here are our favorite ways to kick off this sunshine-filled season:

1. Kickin' Off Summer Concert - Thursday, May 28
   Kick up your heels in the Azalea Meadow and celebrate the coming of summer with the best little Philly band you don’t know yet. With their infectious beats and electrifying 70s-era showmanship, You Do You is a funky feast for your eyes and ears. Get your tickets now
2. Summer Garden Railway Grand Opening - Saturday, May 23
   All aboard the Summer Express! Catch the Grand Opening of the Garden Railway display on Memorial Day weekend. This year’s theme "Art & Architecture" will feature miniatures of iconic Philadelphia sculptures and famous lighthouses, to buildings from the last World’s Fair in 1964 and more! Take part in a kids craft and enjoy free ice cream (while supplies last). Learn More
3. Late [Date] Night Wednesdays - Starting Wednesday, June 3
   Back by popular demand - the garden is open until 8pm on Wednesdays, June through August. Make it a date. Pack a picnic or grab bite at Compton Cafe, then take a stroll through the garden at sunset. 

A Spring Evening of Brew Sampling!

Morris Arboretum has joined up with Weyerbacher Brewing Company for an awesome spring evening of beer tasting!  

We'll sample five beers that represent the breadth of styles and richness in flavor the brewery has to offer. Enjoy and learn more about their wildly popular and award-winning Belgian-style tripel, Merry Monks. Then take this unique opportunity to be among the first to try a brand new, soon to be released, tart style beer. These brews will be paired with complementary food designed to play off of the flavors of the beer, from refreshingly light to full-bodied and complex. Bring your friends and explore a world of unique and exciting beer!

Beer Tasting at Morris Arboretum

Wednesday, May 20

6:30 - 8:30pm

Register Now!

Weekend Picks: Enjoy the Height of Spring

Morris Arboretum is bursting with spring blooms. From strength training to a leisurely stroll, we've got a variety of ways to enjoy the scenes.

• Friday, April 24 - Get Outside with Stroller Strides®!

  10:00 - 11:00am; Registration and payment required. 
  Stroller Strides® is a total fitness program that moms can do with their babies - it includes power walking, strength-training intervals, and body toning exercises using exercise tubing, the stroller, and the environment. Taught by a certified and specially trained instructor, it is a great workout for any level of exerciser.

• Saturday, April 25 - Arbor Day Family Day  

  11:00am - 3:00pm; Free with garden admission, takes place throughout the garden.
  Branch out as a naturalist and dig into learning about trees. Design a tree house, make a “tree map” with five different types of trees, create a street landscape with trees, learn how to “read” the life of a tree, and shadow an arborist to learn what’s involved in caring for trees.

• Sunday, April 26 - Enjoy the Magnificent Trees of Spring 

  Throughout the garden. Come see the diversity of our ornamental trees in bloom. A stunning array of cherries, magnolias, and dogwoods are now flowering.

3 Ways To See the Garden After Hours

Ever wonder what it's like to experience the garden after regular visiting hours? Luckily, we've got a handful of upcoming opportunities to go behind the garden gates (and no fence-hopping required)!
 

• Full Moon Garden Stroll - May 4, 7:00 - 9:00pm
  Stroll the Arboretum, go out on the tree canopy, and enjoy the garden in the glow of the full moon. Register Now

• Kickin' Off Summer Concert - May 28, 7:00 - 8:00pm
  Enjoy the infectious beats and electrifying 70s-era showmanship of Philly band, You Do You. Get Tickets Now

• Yoga in the Garden: Ten Enchanted Evenings - June 2 - August 4, 7:00 - 8:15pm
  The incredible beauty of summer nights at the Morris Arboretum provides the backdrop for this unique opportunity to study inspirational Vinyasa (flow style) yoga. Register Now

Or host your own after hours event! See our rentals page for more information.

Weekend Picks: Stickworks & Sunshine

Looking for something new and interesting to do this weekend? We've got some great ideas to get you out in the springtime sunshine!

Friday, April 3

Artists in the Garden Exhibit
This exhibition features artwork by students, alumni and faculty of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), held in conjunction with the PAFA exhibition, Artists in the Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887 – 1920, February 13 – May 24, 2015.
Free with garden admission, free for Morris Arboretum and PAFA Members.

Pictured: Bill Hansen; Garden 9, Inkjet Pigment Print, 2012

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Saturday, April 4

Patrick Dougherty Stickwork Grand Opening!
Come be among the first to view the newest sculpture created by internationally renowned artist Patrick Dougherty. Designed and built on-site this artwork is composed entirely of locally gathered natural materials.
All day | Free with garden admission.

Kids’ Discovery Series: Calling Crafty Artists! 
Join us as we celebrate the opening of Patrick Dougherty’s magnificent creation. Come and design your own eco-friendly structure using all things from nature including vines, twigs, branches, and leaves. Happening at the lawn across from rose garden entrance.
11:00am - 3:00pm | Free with garden admission.

Photo: Susan Crane

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Sunday, April 5

Take a Guided Tour
Each tour is custom designed depending on the interests of attendees. First-time visitors may want a general tour of the Arboretum. Returning visitors may wish to learn more about our sculpture or big trees. If each attendee has a different interest, the guides will try to incorporate them all. The Arboretum is in your hands.
2:00 - 3:00pm | Free with garden admission.

What to do with all that summer energy?

Summer's here: It's hot, the days are long, and the kids are full of energy!
Camp and swim clubs provide daytime relief for many during these school-free days, but what to do when the sun starts to set and the kids are still searching for something to do?

Thursdays to the rescue!
Morris Arboretum is open late (until 8:30pm) every Thursday during the summer months. It's a unique opportunity to pack a picnic dinner, bring a blanket, and enjoy the garden in a light that's not typically available to visitors. Kids will love catching fireflies too!

If you're looking for something a bit more high energy, be sure to come down this Thursday, July 18 for Let's Move! Garden Dance Party. The Let's Move! initiative was launched by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, to help solve the challenge of childhood obesity and promote a healthy future. Sounds by Shelly Disc Jockey Services will be on hand to lead the party in fun and engaging games and choreography. Free with admission. 

Love live music? Back by popular demand is our XPN Kids' Corner Concert Series! This year's line-up includes the amazing sounds of Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band, Trout Fishing in America, and The Suzi Shelton Band. For the first time, we are offering advanced online ticketing. Purchasing tickets early saves money and time at the gate on the night of the event. Don't forget your lawn chairs and blankets, although we're sure the family will be too busy dancing to use them!

Click here for more family fun events.
Below: A video clip from our latest Summer Solstice Salsa Party! 

Deep in the Weeds, Photography by Rob Cardillo

If you haven't stopped by the Visitor Center in a while, there is a striking new addition to the Upper Gallery you won't want to miss. Deep in the Weeds is a colorful, vibrant exhibit from Philadelphia photographer, Rob Cardillo.

Like people, plants are prone to mingling. Reaching for the sun, embracing tendrils, crossing stems, they're woven into tapestries of shifting textures and colors. In roadside weed patches, native plant communities and even well-tended garden beds, Rob Cardillo has framed nuanced gestures between twig and leaf, petal and pod, creating layered images with a photosynthetic pulse. Through his lens, we see abstract beauty in the interplay of shapes, color and light, yet the images remain fully grounded and invite us to commune with nature's silent social network.

Rob Cardillo has professionally photographed plants, gardens and the people that tend them for over twenty years.  His work appears regularly in Horticulture, Country Gardens, Organic Gardening, The New York Times and many other magazines, books and advertisements. To see Rob Cardillo’s work visit www.robcardillo.com. 

Deep in the Weeds, photography by Rob Cardillo
On display beginning February 3 -  Opening Reception March 17, 1:00 - 3:00pm
Located in the Upper Gallery at Widener Visitor Center
Free with admission.

The Philly Bees' Stake in Pollination

by Stephanie Wilson, Endowed Plant Protection Intern

This past fall, I have been running around Philadelphia with an insect net in hand, surveying the wild bees (non-honey bees) in Philadelphia. The very fact that you can grow many vegetables and flowers in the city is because wild bees are present and pollinating. But very little is known about these city slickers and how they survive such a rough habitat: pavement instead of bare ground (which they dig nests in), patches of flowers instead of rolling meadows, and competition from non-native bee species that are slipping in through our shipping ports. This is exactly what I am researching as part of a survey of the flora and fauna that the USGS is conducting.

Stephanie Wilson (L) and Bombus impatiens (Common Eastern Bumblebee) pollinating a gentian Gentiana sp. (R)

Wonderful Witchhazels!

It's about this time of year when most of us have had quite enough of bleak winter weather and are longing for the vibrancy of spring. It seems nature has a way of knowing this and provides a mid-winter reprieve: colorful, sweetly-scented witchhazels!

Join us Sunday, February 17 from 1:00 - 3:00pm for our annual Witchhazel is Your Favorite family event, a day of outdoor fun and garden exploration! Follow the prepared scavenger hunt map to discover the many varieties of witchhazels growing at the Morris Arboretum. Ranging in color from yellow and orange to pink and red, witchhazels are some of the first harbingers of spring, and the Arboretum’s witchhazel collection is unparalleled in the area. The scavenger hunt invites visitors to compare the different varieties’ beautiful flowers and take in their heady scent. After the hunt, visitors can stop back at the Visitor Center to make a fun craft. This event is free with regular admission and registration is not required.

Download the scavenger hunt map (also available at the Visitor Center): http://bit.ly/14UBeTs

Don't Forget: Kids under 17 visit Free in February!

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Can't get enough of witchhazels? Register for an exclusive, inside look at the collection with Morris Arboretum Director of Horticulture, Anthony Aiello.

An Inside Look at the Witchhazel Collection 
March 2, 1:00 - 3:00pm Register Today

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Glee is coming to Morris Arboretum...

...the Penn Glee Club that is!

Morris Arboretum welcomes the return of the Penn Glee Club for their Annual Holiday Concert on December 8 at 2:00pm.

The Penn Glee Club upholds a 151-year-old tradition of musical excellence at the University of Pennsylvania, beginning in 1862 with just 8 founding members. The Club has toured internationally since 1959 and has traveled to nearly all 50 states in the United States and more than 40 nations and territories on five continents. Since its first performance at the White House for President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, the Club has sung for numerous heads of state and world leaders.

We are pleased to bring their distinctive blend of choral excellence and theatrical showmanship to the Arboretum and its visitors again this season. Stop by on Saturday, December 8th for hot cocoa and cookies, and help us spread holiday cheer with the Penn Glee Club!


To learn more about the Penn Glee Club, visit their website:
http://www.penngleeclub.com/

A Holiday Display Returns to the Garden!

The Morris Arboretum’s popular Holiday Garden Railway Display returns the day after Thanksgiving.

Visitors of all ages will be wowed by a quarter mile of track featuring seven loops and tunnels with fifteen different rail lines and two cable cars, nine bridges (including a trestle bridge you can walk under!), and bustling model trains, all set in the lovely winter garden of the Morris Arboretum. The display and buildings are all made of natural materials – bark, leaves, twigs, hollow logs, mosses, acorns, dried flowers, seeds and stones – to form a perfectly proportioned miniature landscape complete with miniature rivers. Each building, while an exact replica of the original, is unique in its design. Philadelphia-area landmarks such as a masterpiece replica of Independence Hall are made using pine cone seeds for shingles, acorns as finials and twigs as downspouts. The buildings are all meticulously decorated for the holidays with lights that twinkle along the tracks and around the surrounding landscape.

The Holiday Garden Railway opens the day after Thanksgiving and is open daily from 10am-4pm through December 14 and 10am-5pm, December 15-31 (closed Christmas Eve and day, and New Years day).

A special Holiday Garden Railway Grand Opening Celebration will be held on Saturday, November 24 from 1-3pm that will include the sounds of carolers. Kids and adults will also have the opportunity to make an ornament or decoration from natural materials to take home.  The Holiday Garden Railway is a great way to kick off the season and also serves as a fabulous a backdrop for your holiday greeting card, so bring your camera!

The Railway is free with regular garden admission.

Up On the Roof

Autumn is the loveliest season on the intensive green roof, in the aerial gardener's opinion. The grasses have matured, displaying seed heads that dance in the slightest breeze, held high above tawny foliage. Rhus aromatica 'Gro-Low' glows crimson and copper, igniting the roof with fiery splashes. Keen eyed observers may spot standard dwarf iris cultivars blooming, such as citrine 'Prince Pele'. Spiky yuccas sport yellow and green striped foliage, striking a pose even after their September blooms have faded.

Bloomfield Farm Day presents a rare opportunity for the public to view the green roof. Free with admission, the roof will be the backdrop to this fun-filled day celebrating agricultural history, including demonstrations, animals, and live music. The Horticulture Center and historic Springfield Mills will also be open for tours. Find out more on our website.

Article by Louise Clarke, aerial gardener.
Photos by Louise Clarke (top) and Rebekah Armstrong (bottom).

A Fall Tradition on Display...

A big 'Thank You' to all who came out for our Fall Festival this past weekend!

After a rainy weekend the sun is finally shining on our gardens and the weather is just right to come see a fall tradition at Morris Arboretum... The 5th Annual Scarecrow Walk! More than 30 creative 'crows await you along the Oak Alle. See if you can spot The Lorax or Strawbacca, or Rapunzel with her new straw hairdo. Make sure to snap a photo with these crazy cast of characters and vote for your favorite! The Scarecrow Walk is on display now through October 21. See you in the garden.