Plant A Trillion Trees Podcast featuring Jason Lubar Our very own Jason Lubar (Associate Director of Urban Forestry, Morris Arboretum) is featured on the latest episode of the  Plant A Trillion Trees  podcast. Image Our very own Jason Lubar (Associate Director of Urban Forestry, Morris Arboretum) is featured on the latest episode of the  Plant A Trillion Trees  podcast. He discusses the tornados that have ravaged our Mid-Atlantic Region and the aftercare of trees from tornado and derecho damage. Plant A Trillion Trees  is a podcast dedicated to encouraging tree planting and proper tree care for our urban forest which includes neighborhoods, parks, and other open spaces. The show is hosted by Eva Monheim and Hal Rosner, certified arborists through the  International Society of Arboriculture . Blog Image November 11, 2022 …

Preserving Philadelphia’s Heritage Trees at Penn The Penn Campus Arboretum is home to over 6,500 trees and 240 species in West Philadelphia. Keeping the trees alive and thriving in an urban setting is an ongoing task for  Penn’s Facilities & Real Estate Services  (FRES) and Morris Arboretum’s Urban Forestry team who partner to manage and improve Penn’s green infrastructure. Image Before and After The Penn Campus Arboretum is home to over 6,500 trees and 240 species in West Philadelphia. Keeping the trees alive and thriving in an urban setting is an ongoing task for  Penn’s Facilities & Real Estate Services  (FRES) and Morris Arboretum’s Urban Forestry team who partner to manage and improve Penn’s green infrastructure. Towards this goal, a recent project involved improving the soil conditions around seven large London planetrees, each approximately 85 years old, which are part of an allée or line of trees along River Fields Drive. These important Philadelphia heritage trees were being negatively impacted from unsanctioned parking on the grassy spaces between each tree resulting in the soil being extremely compacted, which was harming the trees’ structural and biological root health. Roots are the life blood of trees, absorbing and transporting vital water and minerals to the tree and anchoring/stabilizing them in the ground. Because of the impact from car-related compaction to the soil and roots, the overall longevity of these trees was being threatened.  To ensure the biological health and longevity of these magnificent London planetrees, FRES, with the help of the Urban Forestry team, proposed that the degraded soil be decompacted and enriched with leaf compost, and a low barrier fence be installed so that no further parking could occur between the trees. As a result of this FRES-funded project, the trees are well on their way to surviving another 85 years. Blog Image October 21, …

Plant Names Tell Their Stories: Carya ovata (shagbark hickory) Carya ovata  (shagbark hickory) is a large deciduous tree that is easy to identify all year round because of its eye-catching shaggy mature bark. Image Carya ovata  shaggy bark, a roosting place for bats and butterflies. Carya ovata  (shagbark hickory) is a large deciduous tree that is easy to identify all year round because of its eye-catching shaggy mature bark. In the fall, shagbark hickory is also notable for its warm golden-brown leaves and sizable edible nuts. It is one of the five hickory species native to Pennsylvania.  The genus name Carya is the Greek name for walnut, and in Greek mythology Laconian princess Carya had a love affair with the god Dionysus; after her death, he memorialized her by changing her into a fruitful walnut tree. The specific epithet ovata means “egg-shaped,” referring to the nut, and the common name hickory was adapted from the Virginia Algonquian word pawcohiccora, referring to a staple food of pounded hickory nuts and water. From 1773–1777 William Bartram, a foremost Philadelphian naturalist, travelled the east coast south of Pennsylvania and described seeing one hundred bushels of shagbark hickory nuts stored at just a single Native American family home. The hickory wood itself was valued as a fuel and for bow-making.       Here are some fun hickory-related experiences to enjoy this autumn:  Find some shagbark hickories and appreciate the value of shaggy bark as a home or hiding place for wildlife: butterflies, caterpillars, and bats all benefit from the protection provided by the curling bark.  Train your mind’s eye to identify the distinctive color of fall shagbark hickory leaves; unlike the maples, which turn lemon yellow, these leaves are a rich golden mustard-brown yellow. Once you become attuned to this color, you will be able to suspect a hickory, even from afar.   Look for the edible nuts! Wildlife—including squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, black bears, fox, …

Our friends at ACLAMO need your help! We are hosting a contribution drive for the benefit of ACLAMO in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, an Arboretum partner organization who needs our help! Image We are hosting a contribution drive for the benefit of  ACLAMO  in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, an Arboretum partner organization who needs our help! The fallout from Hurricane Ida has severely impacted ACLAMO’s families and their children, and so we are collecting the following items for their use: Non-perishable food items Diapers (especially sizes 5,6,7) Baby wipes Female Sanitary products General cleaning products (Clorox wipes, rags, mops, et al.) We'll be collecting items from Wednesday, September 15 through Friday, September 24th. Any items you are able to contribute are greatly appreciated. Please bring your contributions during normal business hours to the Arboretum’s entry gate where a collection bin can be found. Read more about our partnership with ACLAMO  here . Blog Image September 14, …

Plant Names Tell Their Stories: Athyrium niponicum var. pictum (Japanese painted fern) In 2004,  Athyrium niponicum  var.   pictum  (Japanese painted fern) received the Perennial Plant of the Year award for being one of the most colorful and resilient ferns for the garden. Image Athyrium niponicum  var.  pictum  near the Morris Arboretum Springhouse. Photo by Katherine Wagner-Reiss. In 2004,  Athyrium niponicum  var.   pictum  (Japanese painted fern) received the Perennial Plant of the Year award for being one of the most colorful and resilient ferns for the garden. Its feathery sage, silver, and burgundy foliage can brighten a shady area from spring through November, when it dies back for the winter—and it’s deer resistant!  The genus name Athyrium derives from the Greek "athyros," meaning doorless, and refers to the hinged indusia, a covering that protects the sorus, a collection of spore cases which are slow to open (see bottom right photo).  Niponicum  means of or from Japan, although this species is also native to North China, Korea, and Taiwan.  Pictum  means painted or highly colored, and in contrast to  Athyrium niponicum , which is an all-green fern, the variety  pictum  has burgundy midribs and veins accenting the silvery green leaflets. Cultivars such as 'Burgundy Lace’ and ‘Pewter Lace' show enhanced coloration. There are also some hybrids between Japanese painted fern and the native  Athyrium filix-femina  (lady fern). One such hybrid is ‘Branford Beauty,' combining the colorful curved fronds of the Japanese painted fern with the textured leaves of the lady fern rather than the spreading rhizomatous habit of the Japanese painted fern, the hybrid inherited the erect habit of the lady fern. Scientists at the New York Botanical Garden are wondering if  Athyrium niponicum  var.  pictum  may be the first exotic fern to naturalize in the New York City area, as the spores from this plant, endemic to East Asia, spread via wind to moist, fertile areas away from …

Support the TREES Act! As an arboretum, we're devoted to the existence and potential of trees within nature as well as communities, which is why we're calling on our visitors to support The Residential Energy and Economic Savings Act (TREES Act) of 2021. Image As an arboretum, we're devoted to the existence and potential of trees within nature as well as communities, which is why we're calling on our visitors to support  The Residential Energy and Economic Savings Act ( TREES Act ) of 2021.  U.S. Congress is considering creating a new program that would  plant 300,000 trees a year , mainly in high-heat, underserved urban communities—like many Philadelphia neighborhoods.  Trees are often sparse in underserved communities, and as a result people who have the hardest time covering cooling and heating expenses in their homes are the same people who have higher energy bills. The TREES Act would provide funding to plant trees in areas that need them most, with the goal of cooling neighborhoods and reducing energy costs. Trees planted through this program would also help mitigate climate change and absorb pollutants that are harmful to people with respiratory illnesses. The $50 million annual program, which would be run by the U.S. Department of Energy, would provide funding to a variety of groups including, potentially, Philadelphia City Government and non-profit organizations. Help us push for more funding for tree planting in areas that need it most by  asking your Congressional leaders  to co-sponsor TREES Act (H.R. 3522 and S. 1782) .  Sign the petition today! And to learn more about the history of trees in Philadelphia and the ongoing work to improve access in underserved communities, check out the  Tree Plan  as well as our friends at  Tree Philly ! Blog Image August 10, …

Plant Names Tell Their Stories: Scaevola aemula (fan flower) This summer,  Scaevola aemula  is featured in many of the planters gracing the Rose Garden of Morris Arboretum. Image Purple  Scaevola aemula  in a planter. This summer, Scaevola aemula is featured in many of the planters gracing the Rose Garden of Morris Arboretum. Scaevola aemula is an Australian native, a tender perennial grown as an annual in our temperate climate. The common name is fan flower or, even more imaginatively, fairy fan flower. Looking from above, it seems as though it's been cut in two: there's only half a corolla tube, which resembles a fan. But look again—instead of a fan, you can imagine a left hand with five fingers; Scaevola means “left-handed” and aemula means “imitating.” Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), who is credited with naming the genus Scaevola, and Robert Brown (1773–1858), who named the species Scaevola aemula, both certainly knew the famous story of the Roman soldier Gaius Mucius: a man so brave that when captured by his enemy he thrust his right hand into fire to demonstrate his fearlessness. Astonished, the enemy released Mucius, and after that he and his descendants were tagged with the surname of Scaevola, meaning “left-handed.” Even today, school children in Italy are familiar with this story, and not surprisingly, Scaevola has been the subject of numerous paintings, drawings, and statues, including The Trial of Mucius Scaevola by Italian artist Vittorio Maria Bigari (1692–1776), owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Image Scaevola aemula  showing split purple corolla tubes, each with five petals that give a “left-handed” appearance. Image Scaevola aemula  showing split pink corolla tubes.                               Scaevola aemula  are short trailing plants that can withstand sun, heat, and drought, but they do enjoy regular watering. They are used in containers as “spiller plants”—splashy plants that cascade and tumble over the sides—and they can also be used as …

Plant Names Tell Their Stories: Monarda didyma (scarlet beebalm) Monarda didyma  (scarlet beebalm) is a tall native perennial growing in the Morris Arboretum Herb Garden.  Monarda  is named for Nicolás Monardes (1494–1588), a Spanish physician and botanist. Image Monarda didyma  in the Morris Arboretum Herb Garden. Monarda didyma (scarlet beebalm) is a tall native perennial growing in the Morris Arboretum Herb Garden.  Monarda  is named for Nicolás Monardes (1494–1588), a Spanish physician and botanist. While he never traveled to the Americas, he was able to gain information about herbs from the West Indies by frequenting the Port of Seville (the only commercial riverport in Spain) and talking to motley sources including sailors, soldiers, merchants, friars, and officials; some even brought him seed samples, which he was able to grow in his garden in Seville. From 1565–1574, Monardes published the first American flora, a series of books about new medicines and plants coming from across the Atlantic. His fame was such that in 1753, almost 200 years later, Linnaeus honored him by naming Monarda, a genus endemic to North America, for him.   Didyma  means “in pairs,” pointing out that the male reproductive parts (stamens) are paired. This is shown clearly in the botanical illustration (right), emphasizing the value of botanical illustrations and how they can highlight plant features in ways that a single photograph cannot. Image Long Y-tipped stigmas and shorter paired stamens with yellow anthers (Abraham Jacobus Wendel, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons). Monarda didyma  also has a special tie with Philadelphia’s famous botanist, horticulturalist, and explorer John Bartram. In 1743, Bartram was invited go on a peace mission to meet with Iroquois leaders in upstate New York. During this expedition he discovered settlers near Fort Oswego brewing tea with the leaves of Monarda didyma , which was introduced to them by Native Americans, resulting in “Oswego tea” as a …