Events
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Walking with the Seasons
Monday, February 3
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Monday, April 14
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11 am
Morris Arboretum & Gardens
March 31; April 14 • 11 am – 12:30 pm
with Margaret Kinnevy, Naturalist, Community Nurse Educator, Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
Members: $25 • Non-members: $30
This curated set of walks begins as winter recedes and signs of spring begin to emerge all around (the first class will take place on the date of the Spring Festival celebration on the lunisolar Chinese calendar). Our experience on each walk will look and feel different as the seasons change.
We will meet at the Welcome Center, and together we will venture a few steps off the paved pathways, to the hidden-in-plain-sight areas where you will wish to return for quiet contemplation or to delight in spring’s crescendo of blooms and scents. Throughout this spring season two new areas of development will rise before our eyes: the new pollinator garden installation and the expansion of the witchhazel area.
You will learn easy ways to stay warm outdoors in the cooler seasons and find a sense of peace and well-being as the spring emerges both in the natural world and within yourself. The class is all outdoors and will be held rain or shine. Dress for the weather!
Note: These Monday sessions are not consecutive, but every other Monday as the winter turns to spring. Sign up for the full series at a discount!
Check out the Spring 2025 Course Catalog for more courses →
NEW! Morris Arboretum & Gardens’ Certificate in Ecological Horticulture www.morrisarboretum.org/blog/new-morris-arboretum-gardens-certificate-ecological-horticulture
NEW! Morris Arboretum & Gardens’ Certificate in Ecological Horticulture The program is geared toward avid home gardeners and landscape professionals looking to develop a deep understanding of sustainable landscape design and management. We are thrilled to announce the launch of a new learning opportunity here at the Morris: The Morris Arboretum & Gardens’ Certificate in Ecological Horticulture will offer the opportunity to gain proficiency in creating and maintaining landscapes that are grounded in ecological principles and practice. Geared toward avid home gardeners and landscape professionals looking to develop a deep understanding of sustainable landscape design and management, this classroom and field-based program is a series of 12 courses that are open to the public. The program is self-paced and can be completed in one year of intensive learning or up to several years at a slower pace. The first four courses in the series will be offered in fall 2025. Image The Plants of Pennsylvania by Ann Fowler Rhoads and Timothy Block. What makes this certificate program unique? The Morris Arboretum & Gardens’ Certificate in Ecological Horticulture is unique in our ecological systems-based approach to landscape design and maintenance. Our program approaches each garden as a complex living system, where plants, soil, water, animals, climate, human activity, and other elements interact with and influence each other. In hands-on and classroom instruction, our program teaches design and stewardship strategies that address these relationships holistically rather than focusing on individual components in isolation. The program will focus on our region here in Southeast Pennsylvania. Drawing from our deep expertise in this region’s ecology, all instruction will speak to our local ecosystems. Here at the Morris we have a long history in the native plants of Pennsylvania—we have literally written THE book on this topic! Instructors in the certificate program will …
Travel Abroad www.morrisarboretum.org/see-do/travel-abroad
Travel Abroad Travel Abroad Image Upcoming Trips Travel abroad with the Morris Arboretum & Gardens! Image Gardens, Wine, & Wilderness: A Tour of New Zealand January 10 – 28, 2026 Take the trip of a lifetime by traveling to New Zealand with friends from the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. Leave winter behind and head to the Southern Hemisphere for long summer days to experience stunning gardens and some of nature’s most spectacular scenery. For 30 years, local landscape architect Richard Lyon of Garden Adventures, LLC has been leading groups to experience his native New Zealand. Highlights of the trip include more than ten private garden visits, Auckland Botanical Gardens, Mount Cook, Doubtful Sound, and Mount Aspiring National Park, as well as opportunities to enjoy locally produced world-famous sauvignon blanc and pinot noir. Due to its popularity and reputation as an exceptional experience, this is the tenth time Morris is partnering with Garden Adventures. See Brochure Past Trips Image Lake Takepo, New Zealand, 2024. Image Dart River Tour, Queenstown, New Zealand, 2024. Image Government House, Wellington, New Zealand, 2024. Image Hooker Valley Track with Mt. Cook in the distance, New Zealand, 2024. Image Fisherman’s Bay, Long Bay, New Zealand, 2024. Image Fisherman’s Bay, Long Bay, New Zealand, 2024. Image Mt. Cook, New Zealand, 2024. Image Travelers dining at Mincher, Auckland, New Zealand, 2024. Image Cook Strait, New Zealand, 2024. Image Giant’s House, Akaroa, New Zealand, 2024. Image Welton House, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2024. 1 / PREV …
Events
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Firefly Night! (All Ages)
Tuesday, June 24
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7:30 pm
Morris Arboretum & Gardens
Tuesday, June 24 • 7:30 – 8:45 pm
with Stephanie Bruneau, Assistant Director of Adult Education, Morris Arboretum & Gardens and Brooke Ezzo, Penn Vet, Wildlife Futures Program
Members: $25 • Non-members: $30
Come join us for an all-ages program all about fireflies and other creatures of the night!
Did you know that fireflies are not flies, but are actually beetles? Or that our planet is home to over 2,200 firefly species, and that over 30 species can be found in PA? Or that “glow worms” are actually firefly larvae, and can be found lighting up the soil all around us at night if we only know where and how to look? In this program we will explore the natural history of fireflies, ways of observing and telling them apart, and what we can do to make our gardens more “glowing.” Then, representatives from the Penn Vet Wildlife Futures Program will tell us about the work that they do to help our state’s wild species thrive, and about some of our nighttime neighbors that come out when the sun goes down!
The program will conclude with a short night walk in the garden where we will look for these nocturnal neighbors, and see some light-flash conversations in person.
One registration covers one adult and one child. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Additional adults will require additional registration.
Check out the Spring 2025 Course Catalog for more courses →
Events
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Virtual Open House: Certificate in Ecological Horticulture
Thursday, May 8
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7 pm
Virtual
Thursday, May 8 • 7 pm – 8 pm
Open to the public
Would you like to learn how to create and maintain landscapes that are grounded in ecological principles and practice? Taught by regional horticultural experts, this classroom and field-based program is a series of 12 courses geared toward avid home gardeners and landscape professionals looking to develop a deeper understanding of sustainable landscape design and management. The program is self-paced and can be completed in one year of intensive learning or up to several years at a slower pace. The first four courses in the series will be offered in fall 2025,
Join us at our free Virtual Open House on May 8 at 7:00 pm, where you’ll be able to meet some of our certificate program staff and instructors, ask questions, and get answers! A Zoom link will be emailed to all registrants.
Exuberant Tulips: Designing Beds in Shapes of Ferns and Mosses www.morrisarboretum.org/blog/exuberant-tulips-shapes
Exuberant Tulips: Designing Beds in Shapes of Ferns and Mosses Exuberant Blooms , the Morris Arboretum & Gardens’ annual display featuring eight paisley-shaped beds inspired by Victorian flower bedding, is currently in bloom with tulips that sprawl across the landscape in loops and curls. But there’s more than meets the eye. Exuberant Blooms , the Morris Arboretum & Gardens’ annual display featuring eight paisley-shaped beds inspired by Victorian flower bedding, is currently in bloom with tulips that sprawl across the landscape in loops and curls. But there’s more than meets the eye: When viewed from above, these plantings depict the shapes of ferns, liverworts, and other plants. The European aristocracy of the Victorian era was enamored with unique plants including ferns, which were often the object of collectors’ desire. Now, I could tell you more about how the Victorians inspired me to plant the tulips in these shapes that they would’ve found fashionable in 2025, but really, I just wanted an excuse to show off some underappreciated and often unnoticed Image Exuberant Blooms tulips planted in shapes of other plants: 1 silver moss ( Bryum argenteum ), 2 bug-on-a-stick moss ( Buxbaumia viridis ), 3 resurrection plant ( Selaginella lepidophylla ), 4 umbrella liverwort ( Marchantia polymorpha ), 5 curly grass fern ( Schizaea pusilla ), 6 general fern fronds, 7 handbell moss ( Gemmabryum caespiticium ), 8 stairstep moss ( Hylocomium splendens ). Image Tulipa ‘Lalibela’ in bed 6. Image Tulipa ‘Big Apricot’ in bed 3 In bed 3 (see photo above) you can find a trio of curls representing the unfurling stems of the resurrection plant ( Selaginella lepidophylla ). These fascinating plants can survive near-complete desiccation, going months or even years without any water, only to uncurl after just a few hours of rehydrating. In bed 5, tulips fashion possibly the largest-ever artistic rendering of a curly grass fern ( Schizaea pusilla ). You can search for this rare little …
Saving Campus Trees www.morrisarboretum.org/blog/saving-campus-trees
Saving Campus Trees In 2024, the Morris Urban Forestry Consultant team began removing stem girdling roots (SGRs) that were hindering the growth of trees on Penn’s campus. SGRs are a threat to urban tree health, and by using Arc GIS mapping software they are able to track and prune these trees, saving them from decline. Image Stem girdling roots can cut off the sap flow to the tree and eventually cause the tree to decline. Shown here is a campus Zelkova ( Zelkova Serrata ). The Morris Arboretum & Gardens' Urban Forestry Consultant team (MAUF) works closely with the Office of the University Architect and Operations & Maintenance departments in Facilities and Real Estate Services at the University of Pennsylvania to manage the 6,800 trees on campus. This includes assessing the condition of trees every year, improving management practices, and updating standards to ensure high quality tree care at all life stages. In 2024, the Morris team began removing stem girdling roots (SGRs) that were hindering the growth of trees on Penn’s campus. SGRs are a threat to urban tree health, and by using Arc GIS mapping software we are able to track trees with SGRs and monitor them over time. A tree may be girdled when a root grows in a position that crosses or wraps around the trunk. As the tree trunk grows and enlarges annually, the offending roots can gradually girdle or choke the flow of water and nutrients. This makes SGRs a primary cause of tree decline in built landscapes. Image A map of girdling root remediation on campus. 110 trees received treatment this year. Pruning girdling roots is a specialized task performed by arborists. It involves understanding the complex root systems of trees and how they interact with the surrounding environment. It also requires a keen eye and delicate touch to identify where the cut should take place, how deep a cut is necessary, and how many roots should be removed at one time. The objective is to remove as many as feasible without …
Events
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Tea Under the Tree
Thursday, May 8
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11:30 am
Learn about the botany of tea and create your own blend under our lovely katsura tree. Free with general admission. Meet under the katsura tree.