Nancy Sableski, Manager of Children's Education
Sunday, December 15, 2:00-3:30pm [Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building and Landscape]
Families need nature at all times of the year! Meet inside the main gate at the Visitor Center. We’ll make paper chickadees and go on a StoryWalk to learn how a little bird can bring back the Sun! Free and open to all, most suitable for children ages four through ten. In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209.
Andrew Gapinski, Head of Horticulture, Arnold Arboretum
Saturday, December 14, 9:30am–Noon
[Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building and Landscape]
Put down the hedge shears! Through both classroom instruction and hands-on field training, this class will include what’s, whys, and how’s of proper pruning approaches and techniques. Andrew Gapinski will focus on small ornamental trees, young shade trees, and shrubs with general approaches towards maintaining a plant’s natural form and encouraging health and vigor. Note: Pruning for fruit production will not be covered in this offering. Dress for indoor and outdoor learning.
Robert Spengler III, PhD, Director of the Paleoethnobotany Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
Wednesday, December 4, 7:00–8:30pm
[Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building]
From almonds and apples to tea and rice, many foods that we consume today have histories that can be traced out of prehistoric Central Asia along the tracks of the Silk Road to kitchens in Europe, America, China, and elsewhere in East Asia. The exchange of goods, ideas, cultural practices, and genes along these ancient routes extends back five thousand years, and organized trade along the Silk Road dates to at least Han Dynasty China in the second century BC. Robert Spengler presents a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and historical evidence, narrating the story of the origins and spread of agriculture across Inner Asia and into Europe and East Asia. Through the preserved remains of plants found in archaeological sites, he identifies the regions where our most familiar crops were domesticated and follows their routes as people carried them around the world, shaping the course of human history. $5; free for students
Nancy Sableski, Manager of Children's Education
Families need nature at all times of the year! Meet inside the main gate at the Visitor Center. We’ll learn how Arboretum animals get ready for winter. Go on a StoryWalk, get a tattoo, and make a winter home for your favorite animal! Free and open to all, most suitable for children ages four through ten.
Tiffany Enzenbacher, Manager of Plant Production, Arnold Arboretum
Enhance your garden! Join Manager of Plant Production Tiffany Enzenbacher to learn how to propagate woody plants from fall cuttings. Students will collect and stick cuttings of several taxa (Ilex and Rhododendron to name a few), and will take their propagules home. After rooting, small plants may be ready to transplant as early as next year. Post-class nurturing will be required.
