Public Tours Public Tours Image Step into a world of natural wonder. Our public tours bring the Morris Arboretum & Gardens to life through expert insights, seasonal highlights, and stories hidden among the trees. From weekend highlights to themed walks, there’s always something new to discover. In-Person Tours Image Made in the Shade Saturday, July 25 • 11 am Walk a shady path to view the glory of summer while keeping cool on this guided tour.  Learn More Image Water Features Tour Saturday, August 8 • 11 am Join knowledgeable guides for a walking tour highlighting natural and man-made water features throughout the Morris. Learn More Image Small Trees for Small(er) Spaces Saturday, September 12 • 11 am Investigate the smaller specimen trees at Morris that make a big impact. Learn More Image Hidden Gems Tour Saturday, September 16 • 11 am Join knowledgeable guides for a walking tour highlighting garden features not often discovered on an average visit. Learn More Image Garden Highlights Weekends: 1 pm  Weekdays: 10:30 am Our knowledgeable guides will design a tour around the interests of the attendees. Every tour is different so come back as many times as you’d like. Learn More If you are interested in organizing a private group tour, please see our Group Tours page . Self-Guided Tours Image Fernery The Dorrance H. Hamilton Fernery is the only freestanding fernery left in North America and is home to over 200 different species of ferns and fern allies. During this tour, you will be introduced to some of the most notable ferns in the current collection.  Learn More Image Wetland The Wetland and its floodplain encompass about 35 acres of the Morris. Find native plants, keep an eye out for belted kingfishers and blue herons, and learn about the history of the wetland dating back to 1717.  Learn More Image Witchhazels Explore our witchhazel collection this winter! Our witchhazel collection is one of the largest in the country. Discover the many varieties of these …

The Evolution of a Garden and its Gardener Pennock Flower Walk has changed over the last five years, and so has the horticulturist who cares for it. Pennock Flower Walk is one of many garden spaces that I take care of, but it is the one that has seen the most change over my tenure and afforded me the most growth as a designer. When I arrived in 2021, it was a mixed perennial and annual garden with four symmetrical boxwood trees in the center. I inherited annuals to plant that season with limited direction and a lot to learn about how the garden behaves. We muddled through that season, and I took what I observed to develop a new design for the following year. Since it was still a relatively new space, I stuck to a similar plan and color palette: warm sunset colors. Image Symmetrical design in the Pennock Flower Walk with boxwood trees. Image Pansy display in the Pennock Flower Walk. The following season I punched it up a bit with bigger tropicals. This effect was fun, but the height became a little overwhelming in spots, especially where  plants  also engulfed the side paths. Just as I was starting to feel confident in where I wanted to take the garden, there was a twist: Moving forward, it would be a four-season garden, with a pansy display for interest in the fall and winter. It took a bit of scrambling and the unfortunate removal of some late-season annuals in peak bloom, but the pansies were in. With this change came a new design opportunity for me—I could really lean into the symmetry of the garden. I kept some of the height from last season but was more strategic about its placement and I stuck with the historic warm sunset tones. Then I was tossed another curve ball: The boxwoods were to be removed that fall. My confidence and skills had grown enough by this time to take this change in stride. The design I created in the fully empty beds—very formal with two walls of canna—was my way of reintroducing some of the structure that the boxwoods previously offered. …