Exhibits
Guided Tours
Plan Your Visit
*Rescheduled from August 14* As the sun sets, the bats come out! Join Arboretum Horticulturist Brendan Keegan and Matt Kamm, Associate Director of Field Conservation at Zoo New England, for a Bat Walk in the Conifer Collection, using specialized microphones to listen for and identify bat species in the landscape.
The Horticulture team planted the Solar Array Pollinator Meadow to provide a habitat for a wide variety of insects, birds, and other pollinators under and around the Weld Hill solar panels. But until recently, they had no good way of knowing just how well their experiment was working–that is, until naturalist Louise Miller took it on as a research project for her Mass Audubon Field Certification. Miller conducted a biodiversity survey of the meadow and recorded 70 species of plants and nearly 300 species of non-plant creatures, from snails and mushrooms to insects and salamanders. Join Miller to learn about the diversity she found here, view some of her incredible photographs, and get a chance to record some observations yourself.
Use the power of art to hone your tree ID skills in this interactive class. The group will walk through the landscape, learning to identify common trees and shrubs and sketching out key identification characteristics. By the end of the program, participants will have a packet of identification tips and drawings for various plants, and a deeper understanding of the characteristics that make each tree species unique. No prior art skills necessary—this class focuses on seeing shapes, patterns, and details that make each species identifiable. Join us for a creative and hands-on approach to tree identification!
Nuts are ripening across the Arboretum landscape: black walnut, pignut, shagbark hickory, shellbark hickory, and many more. Join herbalist Alex Klein for a class on identifying walnut and hickory species using leaf shape, bark, nuts, and other key identification features. The class will focus on species common to Massachusetts streets and forests, so that you will be prepared to identify the trees around you on your next walk in the woods or around town.
Explore the amazing variety and beauty of trees at the Arnold Arboretum with pencil and paper. Taught by artist and educator Erica Beade, this walking program will focus on capturing the shapes and volume of trunks and branches as well as techniques for drawing foliage. All skill levels are welcome.
*Rescheduled from September 20* Join Manager of Adult Programming and Events Sarah Nechamen for a deep dive into the strangest parts of the plant world. This month’s theme is seed dispersal: from seeds that explode out from their seed pods to pine cones that require wildfire to open, explore all of the weird and wonderful ways plants have found to get their seeds out into the world.
Hundreds of mushrooms hide beneath the Arboretum’s canopies, silently blossoming into unique forms then withering away again just as quickly. Join local mushroom enthusiast Maria Pinto to search for these fascinating organisms on the Arboretum grounds, both edible and poisonous alike. Along the way you will learn what mushrooms to look for in different habitats and seasons, how they move through ecosystems, and what the Arboretum’s unique collections affect what mushrooms you might find here.
Join Oreades Press and Arnoldia Editor Matthew Battles for a unique literary program: participants will bind together their own booklets in the Hunnewell Lecture Hall and then head into the landscape to hear live readings of excerpts from Arnoldia and An Anthology of Earth from local writers, standing under the same trees highlighted in the readings. After each excerpt, participants will have a chance to reflect and respond in their booklets, ending with an in-depth writing exercise on the themes of trees and nature.
*Cancelled due to heavy rain* What is the difference between a plant in the beech family and the birch family? What does a raspberry plant and a rose plant have in common? Join educator and herbalist Mo Katz-Christy on a meander through the landscape to learn about the common plant families here, how to identify common characteristics in each family, and what we can learn about plants based on their close relatives.
The Arboretum’s magnolia collection is best known for its showy blossoms in the early spring, but these trees have something special to share in the fall too: strange, cone-like seed pods bursting with striking red and orange seeds. Join Director of Horticulture and Landscape Rodney Eason and Arboretum Gardener Sylvia Maina for a tour of the magnolias in all their fall glory.
*Rescheduled from September 13 due to rain.* In 2021, Arboretum staff started transforming a large swath of grass next to the Weld Hill Research Building into the thriving pollinator meadow that it is today. Join Horticulturist Brendan Keegan, the main caretaker for this space, for a deep dive into the meadow: how it was created, what kinds of plants and pollinators can be found here, and how the plants are integrated with the solar panel array that supplies energy for the Weld Hill Research Building.
*Rescheduled from September 26 due to rain.* The stately beeches of the Arboretum used to tower over other trees–and some still do–but pests, diseases, and other pathogens have taken their toll in recent years. Join Arborist Delia Mahoney for a walk in the beech collection and learn about the challenges these trees have faced, what the Arboretum is doing in response, and what the collection looked like in years past.
Hundreds of mushrooms hide beneath the Arboretum’s canopies, silently blossoming into unique forms then withering away again just as quickly. Join local mushroom enthusiast Maria Pinto to search for these fascinating organisms on the Arboretum grounds, both edible and poisonous alike. Along the way you will learn what mushrooms to look for in different habitats and seasons, how they move through ecosystems, and what the Arboretum’s unique collections affect what mushrooms you might find here.
Most of us can point out an oak or a maple by their unique leaf shapes, but what about telling a black oak from a red oak, or a Norway maple from a sugar maple? Join herbalist Alex Klein for a class on identifying oak and maple species using leaf shape, bark, form, and other key identification features. The class will focus on species common to Massachusetts streets and forests, so that you will be prepared to identify the trees around you on your next walk in the woods or around town.
*Rescheduled from October 18* The Centre Street Beds hold everything from winter hazel and silverbell to hickories and osage orange, and October is a great time to see this lesser-known part of the landscape in all its fall glory. Join Horticulturist Ryan Devlin to learn about the plants that grow here, the history of this part of the Arboretum, and how the Horticulture team manages these diverse plantings.
Hundreds of mushrooms hide beneath the Arboretum’s canopies, silently blossoming into unique forms then withering away again just as quickly. Join local mushroom enthusiast Maria Pinto to search for these fascinating organisms on the Arboretum grounds, both edible and poisonous alike. Along the way you will learn what mushrooms to look for in different habitats and seasons, how they move through ecosystems, and what the Arboretum’s unique collections affect what mushrooms you might find here.
Dusk is a perfect time to look and listen for Great Horned Owls, often heard calling throughout the Arboretum’s collections. Join Arboretum Horticulturist Brendan Keegan and Matt Kamm, Associate Director of Field Conservation at Zoo New England, to hear about the owls’ breeding and nesting behavior, learn how to go owling ethically, and possibly hear and see a few owls as well.