Hunnewell Building

Saturday, October 26, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Opening Reception for Dispersal: Photographs by Anna Laurent

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Seed pods are incredible vessels, protecting seeds as they develop and assisting with their dispersal. Photographer Anna Laurent explores the evolution of different forms to fulfill these common functions. Individually, each photograph is a fine art portrait of a unique botanic specimen; as a series, the collection becomes a visual and scientific inquiry into the remarkable diversity of botanic design. The project began in urban Southern California and has extended to the rain forests of Hawaii, the deserts of northern Iraq, and public gardens throughout the United States, including the Arnold Arboretum. This Arnold Arboretum exhibit runs through January 26, 2014, but the artist will speak of her work at the opening reception on Saturday, October 26, from 1 – 3 at the Hunnewell Building lecture hall at 125 Arborway. For show hours visit www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

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Sunday, October 20, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Thoreau and the Language of Trees

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The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University will present Thoreau and the Language of Trees on Sunday, October 20 in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum beginning at 3 pm with writer and editor Richard Higgins. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) wrote about trees as few others have. He admired their beauty and found poetic forms and mythic meaning in them. He studied how they grow and also took them as his spiritual companions, discerning the individual character of each tree’s “soul”. Richard Higgins has studied Thoreau in depth, and in this presentation, pairs his own images of trees and forests with the writing and philosophy of this hallowed figure of the American Renaissance.  Fee $5 Arboretum member, $10 nonmember.  Register online at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

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Thursday, October 3, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – An Eden of Sorts: The Natural History of My Feral Garden

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Thirty years ago John Mitchell Hanson made a brash decision—to cut down a forest of native white pines to build a home and make a garden. Over the next three decades he replanted the land in a series of garden rooms. The irony of his story is that by cutting down the forest of native trees and replacing it with a human construct, he significantly increased the bio-diversity of the area. Learn about the plants and animals, including people, who moved into and sometimes out of this dynamic landscape and how it is possible to increase the biodiversity of developed land.  Mr. Mitchell’s talk will take place in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on Thursday, October 3, beginning at 6:30 pm.  Register at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/SelectDate.aspx  Fee $5 Arboretum member, $10 nonmember.

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Thursday, September 19, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Teeming with Trees: An Armchair Tour of an African Hotspot

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The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot in southern Africa’s eastern region holds the highest tree diversity of any of the world’s temperate forests, with nearly 600 tree species represented. In total, about 8,100 species of plants from 243 families occur within this hotspot, and nearly a quarter of these are found nowhere else [Conservation International]. Botanist, artist, author, and guide Elsa Pooley has spent years identifying, studying, painting, and cataloging the flora of this second richest floristic region in Africa and an important center of plant endemism. She will speak about some of the Hotspot’s most interesting habitats and the plants found there, with a primary focus on its trees, on Thursday, September 19 at 6:30 at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum.  $10 for the general public, free to Arboretum members.  Register at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/SelectDate.aspx.

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Thursday, September 12, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Global Ecology: The History of Humans on the Land

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Erle C. Ellis, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Visiting Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, will speak on Global Ecology: The History of Humans on the Land at the Arnold Arboretum’s Hunnewell Building on Thursday, September 12 beginning at 7 pm. Erle Ellis maps “anthropogenic landscapes” or areas of Earth’s terrestrial surface where humans have directly altered ecological patterns and processes. Such transformations to the land, whether for food, shelter, or otherwise serving the needs of human populations, are primary drivers of global changes in climate, biodiversity and biogeochemistry. Erle will speak of human-induced ecological changes to the Earth System over many millennia and the novel ecosystems thus created, challenging long-held ideas about native ecosystems and what is wild.  Free for Arboretum members, $10 nonmember (Students: call 617-384-5277 to register free). Register on line at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1245&DayPlannerDate=9/12/20131186&DayPlannerDate=4/29/2013&utm_source=September-October+2013+Lectures+and+Classes&utm_campaign=Fall+2013+Classes&utm_medium=email.

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Sunday, September 15, 3:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Downton Abbey-inspired Garden Party

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You’re invited to join The Massachusetts Horticultural Society for a Downton Abbey-inspired Garden Party at the Gardens of Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, from 3 – 7:30 pm. This festive event will support the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Garden to Table program.

Spend the afternoon strolling through the exquisite Gardens at Elm Bank, admiring a handful of vintage cars, watching a professional cricket match at “tea time”, and more. At 5:30pm, the doors to the historic Hunnewell Building will open to a Pimms cup, beer & wine, and delicious hors d’ouevre from the Catered Affair. Join our best costume & best hat contests and win luxury prizes.  Post-Edwardian era attire encouraged.

Tickets are $125 each. This highly-anticipated event is expected to sell out quickly so be sure to register now. We look forward to seeing you there!  You may register on line at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7v6rol93c8bc522&llr=kzaorjcab, or call Event Volunteer and co-hostess Leslie Mann at 508-904-4967.

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Wednesday, July 17, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Art Talk: A Closer Look at the Arboretum-BTU School Partnership

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On Wednesday, July 17, from 6 – 7:30 at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum, learn about the unique partnership between the Arnold Arboretum and the Boston Teachers Union School to enhance science learning for students from Kindergarten through fifth grade. With Ana Maria Caballero, Arboretum School Science Specialist, gain a deeper appreciation for the work behind the art exhibition, “Through a Child’s Eyes,” on display through September 1. Both teachers from the BTU School and Arboretum children’s educators will present at this special talk.  Free, registration requested at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

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Wednesday, July 10, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Shrubs Across the Seasons: July

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Walk the Arnold Arboretum landscape with Michael Dosmann, Curator of Living Collections, to learn about shrubs, both common and lesser-known species. On Wednesday, July 10, beginning at 6:30 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, Michael will focus on those that display outstanding characteristics in summer. You’ll learn cultural requirements and see full-size specimens so you can determine which shrubs might suit your needs. There will be an additional session in September. See www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu for full information, and registration. Fee $20 Arboretum member, $27 nonmember. Below is a buttonbush, which blooms in June and July.

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Tuesday, June 18, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Through a Child’s Eye: Illustrations by Students from the Boston Teachers Union School

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Strong observational skills are fundamental to every scientist. The Arnold Arboretum and the Boston Teachers Union School—a BPS pilot school—are engaged in a unique partnership to develop observational skills and foster a love of science in every student from kindergarten through fifth grade. Through hands-on work and experiments with plants and animals, Arboretum staff guide students to create accurate, vivid illustrations and describe what they see using rich vocabulary. This leads student scholars to ask questions, design experiments, do research, and learn important concepts in the life sciences. Works in this exhibition represent a range of ages, as well as the breadth of life science topics studied in the classroom, all seen through a child’s eye.  An exhibit of these works, Through a Child’s Eye, will open in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on June 13, the opening reception will take place on Tuesday, June 18, from 5:30 – 7:30, and will run through September 1.

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Thursday, May 30, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Physical Fitness of Leaves

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Every organism must contend with its immediate physical environment, a world that both limits what organisms can do and offers innumerable opportunities for evolving ways to challenge those limits. Steven Vogel, author of The Life of a Leaf, will explain these interactions, using the leaf as example, on Thursday, May 30 from 7 – 8:30 at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum. In exploring the leaf’s world, Vogel simultaneously explores our own. He’ll answer questions about how objects get much hotter than air when in sunlight and far cooler when beneath a clear night sky; how air movement matters even when we can’t feel it; how objects such as trees avoid damage from storms; and ways leaves acquire the essential resources for growth and reproduction. Join us to learn about some of the extraordinary designs that enable a leaf to adapt to its physical world. Fee $10 Arboretum member, $15 nonmember.  Register on line at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

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