Whimsical Woods Whimsical Woods Image Visit our Whimsical Woods, the Morris’s reimagined garden space specifically for children! The fun includes the Willow Wander, a 40’ long, 6’ high tunnel made of living willow, as well as a Fairy Garden that invites visitors to use materials found in the natural world to create their own enchanted fairy houses. Additional events and programs like scavenger hunts and story times will be scheduled throughout the year.  Image Fairy Garden The Fairy Garden invites visitors to use materials found in the natural world to create their own enchanted fairy houses.  Image Willow Wander Willow Wander is a 40’ long, 6’ high tunnel made of living willow that visitors are encouraged to walk-through and explore.  Image Play & Picnic Nestled underneath a tree between the Fairy Woods and Willow Wander is a table and stools for lunch and snack time.  …

Garden Explorer Garden Explorer Image Image Get closer to our collections with the  NEW Garden Explorer! Use your mobile device while in the Garden to explore plants, view images, and learn about points of interest. Search by plant name, accession number, or garden feature to find exactly what you are looking for. Turn on location services to see where you are on the map and locate nearby amenities like restrooms and parking. You can also access the map from your computer through our website to explore the collection or plan your next visit. It’s the Morris right at your fingertips. Start Exploring →   Plant Collection More than 11,000 accessioned plants of over 2,500 taxa are growing in the Morris’s living collection. These include representatives of the temperate floras of North America, Asia, and Europe. This historic collection traces its foundation to John Morris’s interest in plants from around the world and includes plants collected in China by E.H. Wilson at the turn of the century. Many of the Delaware Valley’s "trees of record" (the largest of their kind) are found in the Morris. Most notable are the katsura and the trident maple.  Staff members have regularly engaged in plant-collecting expeditions in Asia and the United States, increasing the different kinds of plants available for today’s urban and community landscapes. Currently, plants from 30 countries are represented in the collection, with a primary focus on Asian temperate species. Significant plant groups in the Morris’s collection include maples, magnolia species, native azaleas, members of the witchhazel family, roses, hollies, and conifers.  What's in Bloom calendar  →  Image   The Catalogue of Plants in the Living Collection  A catalogue of plants in the living collection is available at the front desk of the Widener Visitor Center. Most of the plants in the Morris are labeled and mapped, and this catalogue can lead you to plants in which you have an interest.  …

Sustainability Sustainability Image Morris Arboretum & Gardens is committed to advancing sustainability through its work in research, horticulture, and land stewardship. As part of the University of Pennsylvania, the Morris contributes to broader efforts to address environmental challenges and advance sustainable practices. Through ongoing initiatives and partnerships, the Morris supports innovation, education, and practices that promote resilience, conservation, and responsible care for the natural world. Morris Arboretum & Gardens is a key partner in realizing Penn’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan (CSAP) 4.0 , which lays out the University’s ambitious sustainability goals for the next five years, as well as Penn’s path toward carbon neutrality by 2042.   Horticulture Center LEED® Platinum Certified Horticulture Center  Image Conserving natural resources to build a sustainable future.  This 20,840-square foot facility provides work space for the Morris’s horticulture, administrative, and facilities staff. The space provides the infrastructure needed to match the tremendous growth the Morris has experienced over the past 30 years and to address future expansion of the institution. The “green” elements of the Horticulture Center serve an even greater function, through providing unique opportunities to educate the public about the importance of protecting our natural resources.  The Horticulture Center is not open to the general public to visit without a class, tour, or event scheduled in advance. The general public is welcome and encouraged to schedule a prearranged visit to see the eco-friendly …

Great Trees Great Trees Image Image One of the most admired features of the Morris Arboretum & Gardens is its collection of large and beautiful trees. When John and Lydia Morris first purchased the property in 1887, it was virtually devoid of trees. They soon launched into an intense tree-planting program and under careful nurturing, these trees have grown into the beautiful specimens for which the Morris is well known today. Great Trees Highlights Image Dawn-redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides A fast-growing tree with a majestic  habit, golden fall color, reddish brown  bark—fissured and exfoliating in long narrow strips—and a spectacular buttressing fluted trunk. This beautiful grove, now over 100 feet tall, was planted in ideal conditions—full sun and next to a stream that provides moisture. These trees, which lived alongside the dinosaurs, were once believed extinct before being rediscovered in China in the 1940s. Image Ginkgo, maidenhair-tree Ginkgo biloba One of the world’s oldest tree species, growing on earth for well over 150 million years. With striking gold fall color, this female  specimen, planted by the Morrises,  has messy and very smelly fruit. Non-fruiting males make excellent city trees. A male specimen is near the Edith Bogue magnolia Image Weeping European beech Fagus sylvatica f. pendula Native to Europe, planted before 1909 by the Morrises. Branches weep down and form roots where they touch the ground. New rings of trees grow outward as the original tree ages and dies. An impressive tree in all seasons with its smooth gray elephant hide-like bark, lustrous green leaves in summer, and red to golden brown fall color. Small holes in trunk are made by sap-sucking birds. Image Blue Atlas cedar Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’ The straight species is native to the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. Layered branches with blue-green needles create a picturesque landscape tree. Small finger-shaped male cones on lower branches pollinate attractive large …

Historic Structures Historic Structures Image The historic structures at Morris Arboretum & Gardens bring the story of the landscape to life. Explore charming buildings, stonework, and architectural details that reflect the Morris estate’s past and the vision and creativity of the people who shaped it. Each structure adds a new layer of character to the gardens and invites visitors to look more closely at the Morris and its history. Image The Log Cabin Visitors can step into the shoes of our founder, Lydia Morris, and take a trip back in time in the Log Cabin. From entertaining friends to enjoying quiet time on the porch watching the woodlands along the stream, Lydia used the Log Cabin as her private retreat. John Morris designed and ordered the construction of the cabin in 1908. Similar in style to the nostalgic vacation cabins of the Adirondacks, complete with a river-stone cobble chimney. The building was cool in the summer, and a fireplace provided warmth for the cold winter. The Log Cabin was later restored in 1995 and 2018, and remains an idyllic spot to enjoy spring bulbs and other short-lived native plants particularly.  Image Photo: Freddy Clark The Springhouse See one of the few remaining springhouses in Philadelphia and all its hidden treasures! This Springhouse pre-dates the Morris estate and can be traced back to when the property was first used as a dairy farm. In its home, alongside the spring-fed creek, the springhouse was used to store dairy products and other chilled perishables. However, the larger adjacent building remains a mystery. Its structural accents, like a chimney and fireplace, are speculated to have also been used for storage, dairy product preparations, or possibly even a smokehouse.  In 2004 this historic structure underwent a complex restoration. The stone walls were rebuilt, including a 38-foot wall with seating, granite steps, brick paving, new wooden beams to suggest a roof, and enhancements to the surrounding landscape.  The …