Everyone is warmly invited to participate in the January Vigil in Support of Black Lives Matter, on Thursday, January 5, from 5:30-6:30 pm on the lawn of the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, 633 Centre Street, JP. This month we will celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., […]

Stay connected to nature and enjoy the health benefits of a winter walk at the Arnold Arboretum. Docents will cover seasonal interest, Arboretum history, and our plant collections. Please dress for the weather, including footwear. Roads are plowed but not salted and walks may venture onto woodland paths. After your tour, warm up with a […]

Bird bills come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, from the needle-like bills of swallows for picking insects out of the air, to hummingbirds' long and curved bills for probing into the base of a flower, to the robust bill of the evening grosbeak for cracking into seeds. Some even have special features, like […]

It looks like a cherry tree, it smells like root beer, but it is, in fact, the beautiful and aromatic sweet birch. Join Horticulturist Brendan Keegan to learn about this fascinating tree and its role in ecological succession, its use by wildlife, and its importance to indigenous communities. You may even get a chance to […]

Spruces and hemlocks and pines, oh my! Take a walk and use a hand lens to see the intricacies of evergreen needles and cones. You will be surprised at something you’ve never noticed before. The walking portion of this program will be a mile on moderately sloped woodchips, gravel, and paved paths. In the event of inclement weather, […]

Back by popular demand, this talk will explore the history of ice harvesting on Jamaica Pond. Before the 19th century, ice was a commodity available only to the very rich and to those who could harvest it themselves. That changed as the ice harvesting industry became increasingly mechanized. New technologies allowed more people to enjoy […]

Open House: Arboretum Entrance Improvement Project Saturday, January 21, 12-3pm Location: Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131 Please join the Arboretum and landscape design firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates at an open house to learn about our Entrance Improvement Project to renew and improve the Arboretum's many entrances and provide a […]

What is there to see at the Arboretum after all of the leaves have fallen and before spring flowers start to bloom? Bark! Shaggy bark, mottled bark, striped bark: the Arboretum has it all. Join Horticulturist Rachel Lawlor to see some beautiful bark highlights, learn how to identify some trees by their bark alone, and […]

In her New York Times bestseller Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, Amy Stewart takes on Mother Nature’s most appalling creations. It’s an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, Stewart presents tales of bloodcurdling botany that […]

Join a participatory, in-person read-aloud of excerpts from Richard Powers’ tree-inspired novel The Overstory hosted by the Arnold Arboretum. The read-aloud will take place on Saturday, January 28, between 1pm and 4pm, within the exhibition of artist Diane Samuels' 160-foot scroll, The Overstory by Richard Powers, which was inspired by and celebrates the Pulitzer-prize winning novel. This is the last chance to see […]

The February Vigil in Support of Black Lives Matter will be held Thursday evening, February 2, from 5:30-6:30 pm on the lawn of the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain. In lieu of a speaker, we will reflect on the lives of some of the people lost to racist violence whose names we read aloud […]

Katharine Cipolla, Parish Historian, will present a survey of the historic building from her recent book A History of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, The First Century. St. John’s Episcopal Parish was founded in 1839 in central Jamaica Plain. The first chapel was on what is now St. John Street. The parish inherited […]