This half-mile Introductory Tour features stories about the Arboretum’s history, mission, and research endeavors. If you’re at the Arboretum, click here to take a version of this tour with Expeditions, our mobile web app.
Demos un paseo con Iñaki Hormaza, profesor visitante del Arboretum.
Walk with Landscape Architect Rosetta S. Elkin and Arboretum Archivist Lisa E. Pearson.
Experience the Arnold Arboretum’s world-class living collections from Director Ned Friedman’s perspective. Take this tour online or use the page for self-guided exploration while visiting the Arboretum in person.
One of the most outstanding flowering crabapple cultivars in the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University’s living collections was found as a chance seedling growing in its own backyard.
This one-of-a-kind viburnum was collected as a result of the Arboretum’s commitment to plant conservation. Its exceptional single red floret was noted 18 years after planting.
My work throughout the grounds allows me to frequently interact with visitors, and I love how our shared curiosity and enthusiasm for this living landscape brings us all together.
I am so grateful to come to work every day in a place where so many people come to find joy, relaxation, healing, and learning. Working with seeds and plants in the beginning stages of their lives is a constant reminder of the miraculous and complex life cycles that plants carry out all around us.
There are not many other places where I could study such a diverse group of species. I love having such an exceptional collection next door to the lab, and despite spending so much time in the landscape, I still keep finding wonderful new spots with plants from around the world.
I love creating programs that get people excited about plants and the Arboretum and seeing the participants’ reactions first-hand. When someone feels really inspired, or excited, or awestruck because of a program I planned, there’s no better feeling.
I think the Arboretum's most valuable impact is its role as a place where people can engage in a relationship with plants, something usually forgotten in big cities. The collection of hundreds of fascinating plant species offers each day a new flower, a bark you have not seen before, or a giant tree that has seen generations of visitors walking by.
The Arnold has an incredible history of plant-loving people that I really relate to. I feel lucky to work here and look forward to it every day.
