Events
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Premier Member Event: Stroll and Picnic with the Scarecrows
Tuesday, October 14
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4:30 pm
Join us for our next premier member-exclusive event! Bring the family or bring a friend and enjoy an early evening outside. Pack a snack or a meal and your favorite beverage for an al fresco garden experience. Stroll among the scarecrows in our enchanting gardens after hours—without the crowds! From colorful and creative to spectacularly spooky, Morris’s Annual Scarecrows are a fun display for everyone.
For help with ticket registration, please contact the membership office at members@morrisarboretum.org or 215.247.5777 ext. 205.
This program is invitation-only and registration is required. Rain or shine event. In the case of severe inclement weather, this event will be canceled.
Events
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Forest Ecology for Arborists
Monday, November 3
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12:30 – 4:30 pm
How can principles of forest ecology inform arboriculture? Join Ethan Tapper — a forester, digital creator, and the bestselling author of How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World — for a workshop about forest ecology designed for arborists. We will walk in the woods and talk about wildlife habitat, natural history, forest ecology and forest stewardship, and discuss how to incorporate these principles into our work.
For more than a decade, Ethan Tapper has been recognized as a thought leader and a disruptor in the worlds of forestry, conservation, and ecosystem stewardship, winning multiple regional and national awards for his work. His message of relationship, responsibility, and hope reaches millions of people each year through his writing, his social media channels (@HowToLoveAForest) with tens of thousands of followers, and the dozens of walks, talks, and keynotes that he delivers across North America each year.
This course has been submitted to carry 4 CEUs with ISA, LA CES, and the New Jersey Board of Tree Experts. This course is an approved elective in the Morris Arboretum & Gardens’ Certificate in Ecological Horticulture.
Fee: $105
Smith Walk's Tree Metamorphosis www.morrisarboretum.org/blog/smith-walks-tree-metamorphosis
Smith Walk's Tree Metamorphosis 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. One of the routine but very important decisions Penn’s landscape and urban forestry professionals must make every year is when to remove trees on campus and if those trees can be used in new or innovative ways. The campus is an official arboretum and the caretakers of it take numerous factors into account before making these decisions. This year, after much deliberation, the Morris Arboretum & Gardens' Urban Forestry Consultant team, in conversation with the Office of the University Architect and Operations & Maintenance departments in Facilities and Real Estate Services, determined it is time to schedule the removal of six of the remaining seven honeylocusts ( Gleditsia triacanthos ) on Smith Walk. They are also developing a plan for the reuse of the honeylocusts and the planting of new trees in their place. Image Figure 1: Fall colors of Smith Walk, Fall 2024, Chloe Cerwinka. Image "Smith Walk, stair from 33rd Street looking northwest toward Towne Building - University of Pennsylvania, Smith Walk, Bounded by Walnut, 33rd, 34th & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA Photos from Survey HABS PA-6179," George E. Thomas, published 1995, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. A major consideration this year was the health of these trees and the lack of species diversity that contributed to their decline. These six honeylocusts have a documented history of myriad pests and diseases including honeylocust plant bugs ( Diaphnocoris chlorionis ), spider mites ( Platytetranychus multidigituli ), and …
Events
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Creating Biodiversity at Chanticleer
Thursday, October 23
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1 pm
Chanticleer
Thursday, October 23 • 1 – 3 pm
Members: $55 • Non-members: $60
Chanticleer is alive with more than just beautiful plantings—recent biodiversity surveys have identified over 1,000 species of birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and fish find habitat in the garden. For the past five years, the garden has conducted biodiversity surveys, with a special focus on native bees and moths, both important pollinators and critical elements in food webs for other wildlife.
In this special program, you’ll explore how a garden can nurture such rich biodiversity. Through both an indoor lecture and guided learning in the garden, discover how Chanticleer models ecologically sound practices by blending native and non-native plants across naturalistic and formal spaces. Learn about the garden’s biodiversity findings and how you can translate these principles into your own garden, no matter its size. A particular emphasis will be placed on the ecological value of leaving downed woody debris—like branches and logs—and creative ways to incorporate these elements into garden design without sacrificing beauty.
This program will be held at Chanticleer (786 Church Road, Wayne, PA 19087) and is a collaboration between Chanticleer and the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. This class has been submitted to carry 2 LA CES and ISA CEUs and is an approved elective in the Morris Arboretum & Gardens’ Certificate in Ecological Horticulture.
Events
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Trees Around the World Tour
Saturday, November 8
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11 am
Morris founders John and Lydia Morris traveled world-wide to bring an international flavor to the gardens. Now you can take a fascinating journey around the gardens that highlights trees from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Free with general admission.
The Afterlife of Trees: How Deadwood Can Resurrect Your Garden www.morrisarboretum.org/blog/deadwood
The Afterlife of Trees: How Deadwood Can Resurrect Your Garden 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. When walking around Morris Arboretum & Gardens, you may notice the trunks of dead trees, also known as snags, protruding from between living trees. Or perhaps you’ve seen stump, branches, and other parts of felled trees used as garden borders and creative design. While bewitchingly befitting for ArBOOretum Month , we assure you this is not simply decor: The Morris incorporates deadwood from felled trees into our gardens not only as a natural way to add interest, but also to attract biodiversity and support the ecosystem. Image Figure 1: An eastern hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis ) snag, across from the Log Cabin, provides habitat and food for animals and insects, as well as nutrients for the soil. Snags provide habitat and shelter for wildlife while also releasing nutrients into the soil as they decay. Take this eastern hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis ) snag (Figure 1), for example. It provides a home for animals and insects, insects provide meals for birds, and nutrients from the decaying wood enrich the soil. Notice the small holes in the trunk, presumably made by critters who moved in, and the mushrooms growing at the base that consume the complex organic material from the decaying tree (Figure 2)—a process that is essential to the forest ecosystem. Living trees sequester carbon throughout their lifespans (sometimes for centuries) and they continue to do so after death. Deadwood such as stumps, logs, and standing snags also play a vital role in carbon storage. While trees begin to release carbon back into the environment upon dying, this process can be remarkably slow. Stumps may retain carbon for decades, and logs, depending on the species …
Garden Railway www.morrisarboretum.org/see-do/garden-railway
Garden Railway Garden Railway Image The Garden Railway is closed for the season. It will reopen for Holiday Garden Railway on November 22 through December 30. About the Garden Railway Visitors of all ages will be wowed by a third of a mile of track featuring seven loops and tunnels with fifteen different rail lines and two cable cars, nine bridges (including a trestle bridge you can walk under!), and bustling model trains, all set in the lovely garden of the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. The display and buildings are all made of natural materials – bark, leaves, twigs, hollow logs, mosses, acorns, dried flowers, seeds and stones – to form a perfectly proportioned miniature landscape complete with miniature rivers. Each building, while an exact replica of the original, is unique in its design. Philadelphia-area landmarks such as a masterpiece replica of Independence Hall are made using pine cone seeds for shingles, acorns as finials and twigs as downspouts. Image The Garden Railway is supported, in part, through the generosity of Gwen and Ed Asplundh and by a gift given in memory of Joe Shuttleworth. “Gwen and I are very pleased to support the wonderful Garden Railway. Ever since I was a kid, I have loved trains large and small. For years, I had a large train layout in my basement. There is something very special about an outdoor railway, especially the very unusual and beautifully done railway at the Morris. I enjoy watching the trains myself, but most of all, I enjoy watching the looks of delight on the faces of the other ‘kids’ young and old.” –Ed Asplundh Image Image Credit: Judy Miller Image Image Credit: Judy Miller Image Image Credit: Rob Cardillo Image Credit: Paul Meyer Image Credit: Dave Tavani 1 / PREV NEXT … Garden …