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orange and purple flowers
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A small container garden with bloom plants and green foliage and deadwood woven into the creative design.

The Afterlife of Trees: How Deadwood Can Resurrect Your Garden

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While bewitchingly befitting for ArBOOretum Month, we assure you the deadwood in our gardens is not simply decor: We incorporate wood from felled trees into our gardens not only as a natural way to add interest, but also to attract biodiversity and support the ecosystem.

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A brick pedestrian walk on a college campus lined with trees and buildings.

Smith Walk's Tree Metamorphosis

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Morris Arboretum & Gardens' Urban Forestry Consultants, in conversation with the Office of the University Architect and Operations & Maintenance departments, determined it's time to remove six declining honeylocusts (Gleditsia triacanthos) along the oldest pedestrian walk on Penn's campus, and are developing a plan for the reuse of the wood and the planting of new trees in their place.

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A man wearing sunglasses and a helmet high in a tree with a view of the ground below him

Penn Today Q&A with Chief Arborist Peter Fixler

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The lead arborist at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens discusses his interest in tree work, how trees benefit the planet, the tallest tree he has climbed, current research at Morris, and its impact in America and beyond.

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Black and yellow bee on a purple flower

The Importance of Pollinators

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Over 80 percent of flowering plants and about a third of our food plants depend on bees for pollination.

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Larger-than-life sculptures of red poppies in a meadow on a cloudy day.

Poppy Profusion: A Sculptural Surprise is Back at the Morris

For this year's Bees, Butterflies & Blooms: A Pollinator Paradise exhibition, we are reimagining the 2008 sculptural installation by the late artist Gary G. Miller, bringing these giant poppies back to delight a new generation of visitors.

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Woman wearing a green visor and green long-sleeved shirt kneeling in a garden

A Fresh Vision for the Pennock Flower Walk

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Compton Horticulturist Jen Monico brings back sunset color theme for historic Alice & J. Liddon Pennock Flower Walk.

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A view of the sky through a circle created of green foliage.

Morris Hidden Gems

Our staff shared their favorite hidden gems that visitors might miss on an average visit.

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A crew of arborists processing branch wood outdoors.

Elegy for the Lebanon Cedar

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For the last several decades, our majestic cedar of Lebanon trees (Cedrus libani) have struggled to survive our changing weather. In 1887, when John and Lydia started their Compton Estate, Lebanon cedar was considered a well-adapted plant for the Philadelphia region and was often planted as a featured specimen. We have had several Lebanon cedars in our collection, but only two remain from the original garden.