Plant Names Tell Their Stories: Maidenhair Ferns Morris Arboretum & Gardens hosts several of the over 200 species of maidenhair ferns. The maiden commemorated in the name is none other than Venus—the Greek goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, and victory. Morris Arboretum & Gardens hosts several of the over 200 species of maidenhair ferns. The maiden commemorated in the name is none other than Venus—the Greek goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, and victory—due to parallels between the mythology surrounding Venus and the form and function of maidenhair ferns. Image Birth of Venus by Botticelli  shows Venus, newly born from the sea, with long, windblown hair. Public Domain. Pliny the Elder (AD 23/24 – AD 79), a Roman natural historian, noted that maidenhair ferns arise from moist places. He also noticed how contradictory this preference in habitat is, considering the maidenhair’s aversion towards wet foliage: water that falls on the leaflets beads up, demonstrating what is now popularly called "the lotus effect," referencing the superhydrophobic self-cleaning properties exhibited by the leaves of the lotus flower. This excellent defense mechanism allows a plant to rid itself of unwanted bacteria and fungi, as well as particles that block photosynthesis. Image Adiantum sp. - Notice the black hair-like stems that inspired the name "maidenhair." Photo by Katherine Wagner-Reiss. Image Adiantum sp. - Shown here is the characteristic water repellency of the leaves.  Photo by Katherine Wagner-Reiss.                               Image Statue of Venus wringing out her hair. From Pompeii, House of Camillo, Marble, 1st century AD.  CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons Pliny also noted that some people in his day called this fern "beautiful hair." The delicate leaf stem is hair like: very thin, hard, wiry, shiny, and black or dark brown in color. With this visual similarity in mind, the plant was used to dye hair and treat hair loss. Venus was, by legend, conceived in …

Contemporary of the Dinosaurs: Cathay Silver Fir This spring, the Morris added an extremely rare plant to our collection: the Cathay silver fir, Cathaya argyrophylla, an ancient member of the pine family, and a “living fossil" that first appeared in fossil records around 140 million years ago during the Cretaceous period of the late Mesozoic Era.   Image The Cathay silver fir, Cathaya argyrophylla, is located to the left of the Key Fountain and across from the dawn-redwoods in English Park. The Morris possesses a collection of trees and shrubs that encompass everything from the exotic to the common,  the ornamental to the esoteric. This spring we were fortunate to add another extremely rare plant to our collection. The Cathay silver fir, Cathaya argyrophylla, is an ancient member of the pine family, and a “living fossil.” It first appeared in fossil records around 140 million years ago during the Cretaceous period of the late Mesozoic Era. It was a contemporary of the dinosaurs that roamed the earth during this same time. The Cathay silver fir was thought to be as extinct as the dinosaurs who ate it. In 1938, Professor Yang Hsien-chin from Fudan University was doing fieldwork on the remote Golden Buddha Mountain in southeastern China when he discovered an unknown conifer. He took herbarium specimens from his mysterious find back to his lab for further study. Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors (not the least of which was the outbreak of a global war), his herbarium voucher sat uninvestigated. In 1949, the newly installed Chinese Communist Party created the Institute of Botany and folded Professor Yang’s specimen into a national herbarium collection. Here his herbarium vouchers languished in further obscurity as an unidentified tree. In the summer of 1955, in another remote forest near the Golden Buddha Mountain, several Chinese botanists discovered conifers they did not recognize. They sent specimens of these plants to the Institute of Botany. Using …

Private Estate 1887-1932 Private Estate 1887-1932 Image Collections: Private Estate Era, 1887–1932 Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania Records Morris Arboretum was originally the private estate of John Thompson Morris (1847-1915) and his sister Lydia Thompson Morris (1849-1932). John and Lydia established the estate in 1887 with the purchase of 67 acres in Chestnut Hill, which they named Compton. Their Gothic Revival style mansion and carriage house, designed by Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr., were constructed the following year. In subsequent years, they built a large greenhouse complex near the banks of the Wissahickon River, including a Fernery, Palm House, potting shed and hotbeds. Over the next quarter century, John and Lydia Morris purchased several contiguous properties and enhanced the grounds with classic European and Japanese gardens, picturesque garden follies, fountains, ponds and pergolas. Between 1881 and 1910, the Morrises went on eight extended trips overseas and attended seven international expositions. On their travels, they purchased antiquities and objet d’art to furnish the mansion and donate to Philadelphia institutions. In addition to creating beautiful pleasure gardens for their own enjoyment, John and Lydia amassed an extensive collection of tree and shrub families and genera from around the world, with the goal of establishing botanical gardens “conducted on scientific principles.” Their goal was realized after John’s death when Lydia bequeathed Compton and Bloomfield to the University of Pennsylvania. Biographical Sketches John T. Morris biographical sketch Lydia T. Morris biographical sketch Yonehachi Muto, Landscape Architect: Hill & Water Garden, Overlook Garden   “From the Archives” Articles about the Private Estate Era Each month, the Morris Arboretum Volunteer Newsletter features a column, “From the Archives,” about people and events of the Private Estate Era. The column is authored by archives volunteer, Joyce Munro. …

Exuberant Blooms is Bigger, Bolder, and Brighter Hot, bold colors dominate this year's Victorian-inspired exhibition!  Image Our annual modern take on Victorian flower carpets, Exuberant Blooms , is even HOTTER this summer with eight beds of bigger, bolder, brighter, and more beautiful flowers! Spread over more than a quarter acre of open garden, the large paisley-shaped floral “islands” contain more than 10,000 plants with heights ranging from 8 inches to 8 feet. Hot colors dominate this year’s exhibition with a wide variety of annual and tropical plants of vibrant orange, pink, red, and purple flowers all vying for attention. And while there will be new and interesting foliage for visitors to admire, we are also bringing back many of your plant favorites from last year. The color, shape, and scent of each flower not only catches our gaze but also attracts pollinators—insects and birds in search of the flower’s nectar or pollen, including lots of butterflies and hummingbirds! These animals are called pollinators because they carry pollen from the male part of the flower (stamen) to the female part of the same or another flower (stigma). What's New: Exuberant Blooms Plants List See what specific plants are growing in Exuberant Blooms by using our handy plant list .    Image Image Image Image Image Image Image 1 / PREV NEXT Blog Image August 8, …

Digging into Native Plant Research Native plants, trees, and shrubs play a critical role in maintaining the health and stability of Pennsylvania’s ecosystem—and the Morris has been at the forefront of native plant research for nearly a century. Native plants are imperative to our ecosystem, contributing to cleaner air and water, healthier soil, climate regulation, and a welcoming habitat for wildlife. “We don’t take a breath that isn’t supported by native plants,” says Timothy Block, PhD, the John J. Willaman Chair of Botany and Director of Plant Science at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. The University of Pennsylvania has published the story "Digging into Native Plant Research," which highlights the importance of native plants and the recently established Jan Albaum and Harry Cerino Native Plant Research Endowment in Memory of Martin Albaum. This endowment will support our Plant Science Department as well as the Morris Arboretum & Gardens Plant Science Lab, which will focus on regionally rare plant species and forest health. The lab is set to break ground this fall, and will be located on the Bloomfield Farm side of the Morris. Read More →   Image A sketch of the Morris Arboretum & Gardens Plant Science Lab, which will break ground this fall and be located on the Bloomfield Farm side of the Morris. Image Support from Jan Albaum (pictured in foreground) will provide new opportunities and an expanded effort into the study of native plant species at the Morris. Photo by Eddy Marenco.   Blog Image August 26, …

Take a Journey of Sound Through the Morris Audio artist Richard Hamilton debuted his 24-minute soundscape piece, Auscultation Points, at the Morris during a workshop in June 2024. His piece, a combination of sounds recorded from across the Morris, encourages you to immerse yourself in nature. Image Image Audio artist Richard Hamilton debuted his 24-minute soundscape piece, Auscultation Points, here at the Morris during a workshop for the University of Pennsylvania's  Program in Environmental Humanities Ecotopian Toolkits in June 2024. His piece, a combination of sounds recorded from across our gardens, encourages you to immerse yourself in nature and reflect on the parts of the Morris that we typically hear as well as those sounds we cannot hear without assistance. Richard used various microphones such as ultrasonic mics and hydrophones to record sounds from plants, animals, and bodies of water. The result is a layered soundscape that reflects the beauty of the Morris while highlighting how unheard sounds play a larger role in the health and stability of the ecosystem than we realize. On your next visit, bring your headphones and scan the QR code located on the sign outside the Welcome Center—or listen below! RPH · Auscultation Points Learn more about Richard Hamilton and Auscultation Points → Richard Hamilton is the co-owner of  Dragonfly Audio Post and an award-winning sound designer, mixer, and film/tv composer. Blog Image September 12, …

Summer of Dinos Summer of Dinos Image Image May 25 — September 30, 2024 Free with general admission Get Tickets → Visitors are invited to discover Plants in the Age of Dinosaurs — a self-guided exhibition featuring plants in our collection with roots that go back to prehistoric times. There is also a brand-new dinosaur exhibition in the Garden Railway, Garden Railway: Dinos! Plus, there will be a pop-up paleontologist’s cottage featuring hands-on “dig stations,” special family-friendly programming including Fossil Fridays, dino story time, and much more!   If you were to travel back in time to the Mesozoic Era, which lasted from approximately 252 million years ago to 66 million years ago, you would find a world much different than our own. Not only was it a time of great geologic and biological transition, but the world had some of the hottest temperatures ever known. As the climate changed, plants changed, too! Flowering plants appeared and led the way to an era that supported greater numbers and variety of dinosaurs than any other. Meat-eating animals like the Tyrannosaurus rex got their energy by eating plant-eating dinosaurs like the Triceratops , which got their energy by eating plants and the plants got their energy from sunlight! Without these plants, the food chain would have been incomplete. Sponsored in part by: Image      Image Plants in the Age of Dinosaurs In  Plants in the Age of Dinosaurs —a new self-guided exhibition that runs from Saturday, May 25, 2024 through Monday, September 30, 2024—visitors will learn more about the plants in our collection with roots that go back to prehistoric times. Join Morris Arboretum & Gardens as we travel back to the Mesozoic era, a time 252 to 66 million years ago (MYA) that saw the dominance of reptiles and conifers, the rise of dinosaurs, and the emergence of flowering plants.   Learn More Image Garden Railway: Dinos! With more than 15 different rail lines running along a third of a mile of track, visitors will …

Beyond the Morris: Exploring Gardens in Scandinavia This summer, Compton Horticulturist Jen Monico  traveled to  Sweden and Denmark where she visited gardens and private estates to learn more about garden design and management. Hej hej! Image Jen Monico, Compton horticulturist at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens, in Stockholm. This past July, I was fortunate to travel to Sweden with support from the Paul W. Meyer Extraordinary Experience Fund. Why Sweden, you may ask? I was there for a week-long  University of Pennsylvania graduate course I was taking as part of my master’s degree in nonprofit leadership. It was a travel course through the Organizational Dynamics program, and we learned about strategies that have helped Sweden thrive in the 21st century.  We spoke with individuals in a variety of fields—government, healthcare, military, sustainability, and more—and toured a few cultural sites. Afterward, I turned my focus to the work part of the trip and spent time at gardens and private estates in Gothenburg and Copenhagen, learning about garden design and management. The class fell mid-summer, an opportune time for us gardeners to explore beyond the Morris’s boundaries. Spring had come and gone with a flurry of activity and summer plantings were all tucked into the beds and starting to flourish, but fall had yet to bring the next big to-do list of putting the garden to bed and prepping the holiday lights. While there is never a lack of things to do, summer is a slower time and therefore easier to pull my mind and body out of the garden for professional development, networking, and finding new inspiration. It is valuable for horticulturists to take a step back from the daily grind. Our routines can be rote and comfortable, and that can sometimes engender the misconception that we understand the full visitor experience we provide. Visiting other gardens and being a visitor allows us to engage with the garden from the other side. It can highlight things at your own …