Boston Flora

Tag: Morton Arboretum

  • Summer, 2027 – Global Botanic Garden Congress

    Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) announced that The Morton Arboretum and the Chicago Botanic Garden have been selected to partner with BGCI to host the 9th Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Chicago in summer 2027. The Congress is held every three to four years and is the only global congress dedicated to botanic gardens. This will be the first time it will be held in North America in 27 years.

    Delegates from among the world’s 3,000 botanic gardens will participate in the conference with a theme focused on the role that botanic gardens play in habitat restoration in the wild, as well as in urban built environments. “As we navigate the impacts of climate change, there has never been a more urgent need to revive damaged habitats than now,” said Jill Koski, president and CEO of The Morton Arboretum. “This international congress will amplify the research and conservation work being done in the world’s botanic gardens that is essential to ecosystem restoration.”

    The Congress will bring together botanic garden professionals and other stakeholders from around the world to discuss the many facets of habitat and ecosystem restoration that botanic gardens are engaged in. “The conference provides botanic gardens with a meaningful opportunity to showcase their expertise in plant science, conservation, horticulture and educational outreach to deliver impactful insights for species and habitat conservation,” said Jean M. Franczyk, president and CEO of the Chicago Botanic Garden. “We’re eager for our colleagues to visit Chicago and share our challenges, showcase successes and innovative new programs, and forge collaborative solutions to address the world’s pressing environmental issues.”

    The Morton Arboretum is a globally recognized leader in tree research, conservation, and education, contributing scientific knowledge and technical experience to secure the future of trees locally, nationally and worldwide. The Chicago Botanic Garden is a world-renowned living museum that helps build healthier communities through urban agriculture, offers lifelong learning opportunities, leads pioneering plant conservation research and showcases the beauty of horticulture.

    The Congress will be held at a downtown Chicago location, with the Arboretum and the Garden hosting programs and events at their sites during the event. Tours throughout the state will connect attendees with regional hubs of biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration.

    “Chicago’s motto is the latin phrase Urbs in Horto, City in a Garden,” Koski said. “We look forward to showcasing the many beautiful and unique natural spaces the city and surrounding suburbs have to offer this international audience of botanic garden colleagues.” For more information visit www.chicagobotanic.org

  • Wednesday, September 11, 5:30 pm – Fifty-Six Million Years of Acorns: The History of the World’s Oaks

    Oaks are one of the world’s great success stories: with an estimated 450 species worldwide, they dominate in a wide range of deciduous forests, savannas, and even evergreen broadleaf forests of east Asia. They are notorious hybridizers, moving variants around so readily that one species may shape the geographic and ecological range of another species, just through gene flow. They feed our wildlife, form homes for hundreds of gall-forming insect species, and serve as the raw material for much of human civilization. Yet until recently, the evolutionary history of the genus Quercus, the oaks, was poorly known. In this talk, Dr. Andrew Hipp, Senior Scientist and Herbarium Director at The Morton Arboretum, will present on recent and ongoing research into the evolutionary history of oaks, from their earliest known ancestors of 56 million years ago, to the present day.

    $10 / $5 for PHA members. The Polly Hill Arboretum lecture takes place September 11 at 5:30, and is sponsored by Bartlett Tree Experts and the Dukes Soil Conservation District. For more information visit www.pollyhillarboretum.org

  • Wednesday, August 9, 5:30 pm – Protecting Rare Trees: The Paperbark Maple

    A beloved and well-known garden plant, paperbark maple (Acer griseum) is endangered in its native habitat in China. Kris Bachtell, vice president of collections and facilities at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, will speak at the Polly Hill Arboretum, 809 State Road in West Tisbury, on Wednesday, August 9 at 5:30 pm about the Paperbark Maple Conservation Project that is helping to secure its future. Kris has traveled worldwide collecting samples of the species, from public gardens in the United States and United Kingdom to the wilds of the People’s Republic of China. These expeditions are helping scientists understand the plant’s genetic diversity to help guide its conservation. Get a botanist’s perspective on the history of paperbark maple in the wild and in cultivation and learn how this project can serve as a model to help conserve other threatened species. Sponsored by Bartlett Tree Experts.  $5 for PHA members, $10 for general public.  For more information visit www.pollyhillarboretum.org.

  • Wednesday, August 17, 7:30 pm – Global Tree Conservation: Collaboration for Threatened Trees

    Trees are disappearing from their natural habitats all over the world! There is an urgent need for coordinated action before it is too late In her job as Tree Conservation Specialist, Murphy Westwood is charged with saving trees from extinction through global collaboration. But how? Join Murphy on Wednesday, August 17 at 7:30 pm at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard for this presentation on the development of the Global Tree Conservation Program at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. Learn about their flagship initiatives, their geographic and species priorities, how they foster cooperation among people and botanical institutions around the globe, and most importantly how they take action to save our threatened trees.

    $10/$5 for PHA members.Sponsored by Bartlett Tree Experts.

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  • Tuesday, May 17 – Saturday, May 21 – AHS President’s Council Trip to Chicago

    The year the annual American Horticultural Society President’s Council Trip destination is the greater Chicago area from May 17 – 21.  Participants will explore world famous parks and gardens, and stay at the historic Drake Hotel overlooking Lake Michigan.  The trip includes visits to notable private gardens in the area, as well as many of the city’s renowned public gardens including the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum, and Garfield Park Conservatory.  A special guided tour of the Ball Horticultural Company’s laboratories and trial and demonstration gardens also has been arranged.  To obtain a trip itinerary and learn how to join the President’s Council, email development@ahs.org, or visit www.ahs.org/ways-to-give/presidents-council.

  • Through June 30 – Vanishing Acts: Trees Under Threat

    The Polly Hill Arboretum in Martha’s Vineyard currently hosts a traveling exhibit, Vanishing Acts: Trees Under Threat.  Fifteen species of trees highlight the various sources of threat and possible consequences of species loss for both humans and the ecosystems the trees inhabit.  Katherine Scott of the Vineyard Gazette says “Most threats are related, either directly or indirectly, to human activities: deforestation for timber, clearing for agriculture, climate change (affecting vulnerability to pests,) invasive plants competing with native species and exploitation of the tree as a resource.  The trees in the exhibit represent six of the seven continents.”  For more information call 508-693-9426. For the complete article visit http://vineyardgazette.com/news/2015/03/18/exhibit-highlighting-threatened-trees-comes-polly-hill?k=vg554251c965519&r=1.

  • Tuesday, December 7 – Tuesday, April 26, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Plants of the Season: Identification and Inspiration

    Each month on a Tuesday afternoon ethnobotanist Sharon Ackland explores wildflower and woodland paths in the gardens, hedgerows and woods of the Green Briar Nature Center, 6 Discovery Hill road (off Route 6A) in East Sandwich to search out wild edibles and medicinals, while pausing to inspect prominent plants of the season.

    During the winter months activity is mainly indoors. Review current research for home recipes. Can this plant be used as a cooked green or to make a cordial, throat lozenge, asthma inhalant, headache remedy, shampoo or toothpaste?

    Program includes horticultural tips for naturalizing the home landscape, native plant lore, American Indian usage, gift ideas and easy recipes to make at home. Dates are December 7, January 25, February 22, March 29, and April 26, from 1 – 2:30 pm.  Call 508-888-6870 to register each month.   $15 per monthly session.  For directions, click on to www.thorntonburgess.org. Image below from Morton Arboretum.