Digging into Native Plant Research Native plants, trees, and shrubs play a critical role in maintaining the health and stability of Pennsylvania’s ecosystem—and the Morris has been at the forefront of native plant research for nearly a century. Native plants are imperative to our ecosystem, contributing to cleaner air and water, healthier soil, climate regulation, and a welcoming habitat for wildlife. “We don’t take a breath that isn’t supported by native plants,” says Timothy Block, PhD, the John J. Willaman Chair of Botany and Director of Plant Science at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. The University of Pennsylvania has published the story "Digging into Native Plant Research," which highlights the importance of native plants and the recently established Jan Albaum and Harry Cerino Native Plant Research Endowment in Memory of Martin Albaum. This endowment will support our Plant Science Department as well as the Morris Arboretum & Gardens Plant Science Lab, which will focus on regionally rare plant species and forest health. The lab is set to break ground this fall, and will be located on the Bloomfield Farm side of the Morris. Read More →   Image A sketch of the Morris Arboretum & Gardens Plant Science Lab, which will break ground this fall and be located on the Bloomfield Farm side of the Morris. Image Support from Jan Albaum (pictured in foreground) will provide new opportunities and an expanded effort into the study of native plant species at the Morris. Photo by Eddy Marenco.   Blog Image August 26, …

What's in Bloom: September What's in Bloom: September Image September at the Morris Image wood grass Sorghastrum nutans Meadows, Natural Areas Found throughout the Natural Area meadows, this tall native grass blooms from late summer to fall, displaying bright yellow anthers that gently dangle from each grass spikelet. Image kousa dogwood Cornus kousa Log Cabin After its showy summer blooms, kousa dogwood’s red fruit become its fall seasonal interest. These soccer-ball-like fruits are considered drupes, like apricots and cherries, because they contain a stone in the center. Image franklinia Franklinia alatamaha Azalea Meadow A member of the tea family, Theaceae, this small tree blooms with cream-colored flowers and bright yellow stamens. John Bartram’s son collect seed of this species before it went extinct in the wild, and now this plant remains conserved at gardens and arboreta around the world. Image Bourgainvillea golden-rain-tree Koelreuteria bipinnata Orange Balustrade/Parking Lot This medium-sized tree boasts large panicles of small, bright yellow flowers with red centers. The species epithet refers to the bipinnately compound leaves, resulting in a feathery appearance. Image monkshood Aconitum sinomontanum Widener Visitor Center Native to China, this purple-flowering perennial brings color to shady garden areas. The form and arrangement of the petals resemble a hood, hence the common name. Image Orangeberry tea viburnum Viburnum setigerum ‘Aurantiacum’ Crabapple Slope This species of viburnum typically displays showy red fruit in the fall, but this cultivar is selected for its yellow/orange fruit that persist through the …

Take a Journey of Sound Through the Morris Audio artist Richard Hamilton debuted his 24-minute soundscape piece, Auscultation Points, at the Morris during a workshop in June 2024. His piece, a combination of sounds recorded from across the Morris, encourages you to immerse yourself in nature. Image Image Audio artist Richard Hamilton debuted his 24-minute soundscape piece, Auscultation Points, here at the Morris during a workshop for the University of Pennsylvania's  Program in Environmental Humanities Ecotopian Toolkits in June 2024. His piece, a combination of sounds recorded from across our gardens, encourages you to immerse yourself in nature and reflect on the parts of the Morris that we typically hear as well as those sounds we cannot hear without assistance. Richard used various microphones such as ultrasonic mics and hydrophones to record sounds from plants, animals, and bodies of water. The result is a layered soundscape that reflects the beauty of the Morris while highlighting how unheard sounds play a larger role in the health and stability of the ecosystem than we realize. On your next visit, bring your headphones and scan the QR code located on the sign outside the Welcome Center—or listen below! RPH · Auscultation Points Learn more about Richard Hamilton and Auscultation Points → Richard Hamilton is the co-owner of  Dragonfly Audio Post and an award-winning sound designer, mixer, and film/tv composer. Blog Image September 12, …

Summer of Dinos Summer of Dinos Image Image May 25 — September 30, 2024 Free with general admission Get Tickets → Visitors are invited to discover Plants in the Age of Dinosaurs — a self-guided exhibition featuring plants in our collection with roots that go back to prehistoric times. There is also a brand-new dinosaur exhibition in the Garden Railway, Garden Railway: Dinos! Plus, there will be a pop-up paleontologist’s cottage featuring hands-on “dig stations,” special family-friendly programming including Fossil Fridays, dino story time, and much more!   If you were to travel back in time to the Mesozoic Era, which lasted from approximately 252 million years ago to 66 million years ago, you would find a world much different than our own. Not only was it a time of great geologic and biological transition, but the world had some of the hottest temperatures ever known. As the climate changed, plants changed, too! Flowering plants appeared and led the way to an era that supported greater numbers and variety of dinosaurs than any other. Meat-eating animals like the Tyrannosaurus rex got their energy by eating plant-eating dinosaurs like the Triceratops , which got their energy by eating plants and the plants got their energy from sunlight! Without these plants, the food chain would have been incomplete. Sponsored in part by: Image      Image Plants in the Age of Dinosaurs In  Plants in the Age of Dinosaurs —a new self-guided exhibition that runs from Saturday, May 25, 2024 through Monday, September 30, 2024—visitors will learn more about the plants in our collection with roots that go back to prehistoric times. Join Morris Arboretum & Gardens as we travel back to the Mesozoic era, a time 252 to 66 million years ago (MYA) that saw the dominance of reptiles and conifers, the rise of dinosaurs, and the emergence of flowering plants.   Learn More Image Garden Railway: Dinos! With more than 15 different rail lines running along a third of a mile of track, visitors will …

Beyond the Morris: Exploring Gardens in Scandinavia This summer, Compton Horticulturist Jen Monico  traveled to  Sweden and Denmark where she visited gardens and private estates to learn more about garden design and management. Hej hej! Image Jen Monico, Compton horticulturist at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens, in Stockholm. This past July, I was fortunate to travel to Sweden with support from the Paul W. Meyer Extraordinary Experience Fund. Why Sweden, you may ask? I was there for a week-long  University of Pennsylvania graduate course I was taking as part of my master’s degree in nonprofit leadership. It was a travel course through the Organizational Dynamics program, and we learned about strategies that have helped Sweden thrive in the 21st century.  We spoke with individuals in a variety of fields—government, healthcare, military, sustainability, and more—and toured a few cultural sites. Afterward, I turned my focus to the work part of the trip and spent time at gardens and private estates in Gothenburg and Copenhagen, learning about garden design and management. The class fell mid-summer, an opportune time for us gardeners to explore beyond the Morris’s boundaries. Spring had come and gone with a flurry of activity and summer plantings were all tucked into the beds and starting to flourish, but fall had yet to bring the next big to-do list of putting the garden to bed and prepping the holiday lights. While there is never a lack of things to do, summer is a slower time and therefore easier to pull my mind and body out of the garden for professional development, networking, and finding new inspiration. It is valuable for horticulturists to take a step back from the daily grind. Our routines can be rote and comfortable, and that can sometimes engender the misconception that we understand the full visitor experience we provide. Visiting other gardens and being a visitor allows us to engage with the garden from the other side. It can highlight things at your own …

Penn Treaty Elm’s Lightning Protection System Gets an Upgrade Morris Arboretum & Gardens Urban Forestry Consulting team helps manage the approximately 6,500 trees on the University of Pennsylvania campus, including the Penn Treaty Elm which requires a plethora of strategies to protect and maintain its biological health and structural stability. One feature of its defensive gauntlet is a lightning protection system, and the Morris has developed a sturdier, adjustable, more sustainable system dubbed the Morris Lightning Protection Attachment. Morris Arboretum & Gardens Urban Forestry Consulting team helps manage the approximately 6,500 trees on the University of Pennsylvania campus in the heart of West Philadelphia. While there are many great trees on campus, the Treaty Elm is undoubtedly the biggest. For this large, mature tree with a wealth of cultural and historical significance, we employ a plethora of strategies to protect and maintain its biological health and structural stability. Image Photo 1: Penn Treaty Elm on College Green is an iconic part of Penn’s landscape. One feature of its defensive gauntlet is a lightning protection system. As per American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A300 Tree Care and industry best-management practices, the Treaty Elm lightning protection system consists of a conducting copper wire that begins in the upper tree canopy and is attached to the trunk/scaffold limbs all the way down to where it is grounded in the soil below. Due to the Treaty Elm’s prominent location, accessibility to people, and rightful popularity, the staples that attached the lightning protection conductor to its trunk were frequently being pulled out, even after they were hammered back in. These detachments could potentially disconnect the copper wire conductor from the ground, compromising its effectiveness. Also, these staples are not adjustable, so the tree will eventually overgrow and subsume the staples and copper conductor. The standard staples …

The Story of the Lone Wolf Beech The American beech tree ( Fagus grandifolia ) that stood proudly in the meadow next to the metal sheep along the entrance drive has a storied past and a new future.  The American beech tree ( Fagus grandifolia ) that stood proudly in the meadow next to the metal sheep along the entrance drive has a storied past. Long before the entry drive, the magnolia slope, and even before the Morris family purchased the land to create their Compton estate, the front slope was draped with pastures. In the middle of one of these pastures stood this beech, a “lone wolf” tree that offered a shady respite for grazing livestock. This tree was already a notable specimen in the 1909 survey, listed as F. ferruginea (a synonym for F. grandifolia ). Image Magnolia Slope facing Northwestern Avenue circa 1908. The lone wolf beech is the first tree on the right and is secured inside a fence to protect it from livestock. We are a place of trees, and we deeply revere the many legacy trees in our collection. The lone wolf American beech on our front slope is one that we particularly cherish. In 1987, as the new entrance driveway was installed up the Magnolia Slope, special care was taken to give this tree a wide berth. This act of reverence allowed the tree to thrive, untouched by the encroaching construction. For decades, this beech welcomed visitors to the Morris Arboretum & Gardens with its iconic form:  a single trunk with three main branches or leaders forming a rounded canopy. However, this unique structure led to future problems. As the multiple leaders grew and pressed together, they caused issues with compressed wood and trapped bark, creating fissures where they were joined. Essentially, these branches were choking each other out and becoming a breeding grounds for potential diseases. In 1997, a large portion of one stem broke off during a violent summer thunderstorm. Given the dubious nature of this tree's structure, we realized this could mark the …

The Collectors Circle The Collectors Circle Image Join the Collectors Circle Join Today The Collectors Circle levels of Membership: $2,500 - $4,999 (The value of goods and services below is $325) Includes all of the benefits of General Membership, plus: Exclusive events, including behind-the-scenes tours and garden parties at private residences Morris golf cart tour for up to 5 participants (by reservation) One hour consultation of your garden with a Morris horticulture expert Complimentary gift membership to share 2 guest membership cards (each admits up to 2 adults and 4 children) $5,000 - $9,999 (The value of goods and services below is $850) Includes all of the benefits listed at the previous level, plus: Private guided tour with The Gayle E. Maloney Director of Horticulture (by reservation) 20 percent discount on facility rentals Complimentary education course (no limit on value) $10,000 - $24,999 (The value of goods and services below is $1,100) Includes all of the benefits listed at the previous level, plus: Home garden consultation with The Gayle E. Maloney Director of Horticulture (by reservation) $25,000 - $49,999 (The value of goods and services below is $1,180) Includes all of the benefits listed at the previous level, plus: Private dining experience with The F. Otto Hass Executive Director (by reservation) $50,000 & beyond (The value of goods and services below is $1,880) Includes all of the benefits listed at the previous level, plus: Complimentary Out on a Limb evening facility rental For more information please contact: Keith Lyons, Assistant Director, The Annual Fund 215.247.5777 x161 …