If you’re planning to celebrate Arbor Day — a day when everyone is encouraged to plant and care for trees — your friends at Fernwood Botanical Garden near Buchanan hope you’ll agree that they are an ideal place to mark the occasion and hope that you’ll join in their celebration of the day this Friday, April 28th.
Fernwood is a special place where nature blends with gardens and art to create an experience of wonder for all ages. The world of Fernword comprises some 105 acres on the St. Joseph River near Buchanan, at 13988 Range Line Road in Niles.
For the Arbor Day Celebration, Fernwood has lined up several activities for the day, including:
- The planting of a river birch tree in the Arboretum at 1pm which the public is invited to attend. More than 1,000 individual plants have been planted in this area since 1967, representing approximately 500 different species and varieties of woody plants suitable for this region.
- Following the tree planting, a guided walk through the Arboretum will be offered by Fernwood’s horticulturalists. The meadow style arboretum features mowed meandering paths that take visitors through various plant groupings, including oaks, maples, cherries, beech, magnolia, lilac, firs, spruce, crabapple, larch and more.
- Free tree saplings will be available in the Garden Shop while supplies last.
Arbor Day traces its roots back to 1872 when Julius Sterling Morton, a Nebraska journalist, established the first celebration. Morton, who was originally from Michigan, was the father of Joy Morton who founded the Morton Salt Company in Chicago and created the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois in 1922.
Clarence Godshalk, the longime director of the Morton Arboretum, assisted Fernwood’s founder, Kay Boydston, in designing the Fernwood Arboretum in the mid-1960s.
Until May 1, the hours of operation at Fernwood run from 10am to 5pm (Eastern Time), Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5pm on Sundays. Cafe hours run from 11am to 3pm Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 3pm on Sunday. You can call 269.695.6491 or click this link www.fernwoodbotanical.org for more information, including volunteer and donation opportunities and to confirm status of classes.
