Experience the Arboretum in a new way--take a free guided tour with a knowledgeable volunteer docent. Tour topics range from Highlights and History to Landscape for Learning and special themes on Olmsted, Arboretum collections, and more. For more information and possible cancellations due to weather, call the Visitor Center at 617 384-5209. Tours last around 90 minutes, and are geared toward adults. There is no need to register.

Tour Schedule:
The general free tour season runs from April 16 through October 30, 2016. We offer tours...

Experience the Arboretum in a new way--take a free guided tour with a knowledgeable volunteer docent. Tour topics range from Highlights and History to Landscape for Learning and special themes on Olmsted, Arboretum collections, and more. For more information and possible cancellations due to weather, call the Visitor Center at 617 384-5209. Tours last around 90 minutes, and are geared toward adults. There is no need to register.

Tour Schedule:
The general free tour season runs from April 16 through October 30, 2016. We offer tours...

Get outdoors and enjoy activities designed to move your body and stimulate your mind. Harvard Common Spaces brings to the Science Center Plaza: Urban Boot Camp, Wednesdays at 6:30 a.m. Free! 

Outdoors on the Science Center Plaza - Inside Plaza tent in inclement weather (map)

For more...

More than two dozen local farms and vendors offer fresh food and products weekly!

Learn more here.

Experience the Arboretum in a new way--take a free guided tour with a knowledgeable volunteer docent. Tour topics range from Highlights and History to Landscape for Learning and special themes on Olmsted, Arboretum collections, and more. For more information and possible cancellations due to weather, call the Visitor Center at 617 384-5209. Tours last around 90 minutes, and are geared toward adults. There is no need to register.

Tour Schedule:
The general free tour season runs from April 16 through October 30, 2016. We offer tours...

When the dog days of summer hit, many of us are faced with water bans that limit our ability to water our lush gardens. We find ourselves carefully monitoring the water level in rain barrels and hoping for the next rainfall. What if we started to incorporate plants that just need less water? In this lecture, Jen Kettell will share the effects of drought on woody plants and describe plant adaptations for dealing with drought. Most importantly, she will introduce you to a new palette of plant material that will decrease your water use while increasing species diversity and beauty in your...

Experience the Arboretum in a new way--take a free guided tour with a knowledgeable volunteer docent. Tour topics range from Highlights and History to Landscape for Learning and special themes on Olmsted, Arboretum collections, and more. For more information and possible cancellations due to weather, call the Visitor Center at 617 384-5209. Tours last around 90 minutes, and are geared toward adults. There is no need to register.

Tour Schedule:
The general free tour season runs from April 16 through October 30, 2016. We offer tours...

Experience the Arboretum in a new way--take a free guided tour with a knowledgeable volunteer docent. Tour topics range from Highlights and History to Landscape for Learning and special themes on Olmsted, Arboretum collections, and more. For more information and possible cancellations due to weather, call the Visitor Center at 617 384-5209. Tours last around 90 minutes, and are geared toward adults. There is no need to register.

Tour Schedule:
The general free tour season runs from April 16 through October 30, 2016. We offer tours...

The three ponds that Fredrick Law Olmsted designed into the Arboretum teem with aquatic and terrestrial life in late summer. Join Bob Mayer for a walk and a discussion of the invertebrates and other fauna in and around the ponds. Bring binoculars if you have them for closer look at nature. In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209.

Free, registration requested at my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

Discover the Arboretum on guided walks especially for families. Each walk will highlight different plants and natural phenomena while developing observational skills in children. One adult can bring a maximum of three children; suitable for children ages four through twelve. Come to one, two or all walks!

In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209.
This activity is free and no registration is required.

Known as the “Audubon of Botany,” Philadelphia, Quaker Mary Morris Vaux Walcott (1860–1940) was a gifted artist whose stunning watercolors comprise a catalog of North American wildflowers. Walcott was catapulted to the highest levels of society and national politics by a late and bold marriage to the secretary of the Smithsonian. Along with an early (1887) transcontinental travelogue, never-before published correspondence with fellow Quaker and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover, and Commissioner Mary Walcott’s reports for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Marjorie Jones’ biography reveals rich...

Reception with the Artists: Saturday, July 9, 1:00-3:00pm
Artists’ Demonstration, Saturday, August 13, 2:00-4:00pm
With 150 members, the New England Society of Botanical Artists brings a strong, artistic presence to the Arnold Arboretum this summer. Up to thirty works will be exhibited ranging from watercolor to pastel. The Society has recently shown at the Brush Gallery in Lowell, Massachusetts, participated in the New England Flower Show, and includes many artists within the group who have received prestigious awards from the national organization— the American Society of Botanical...

Did you know that almost all of the plants in the Arboretum begin their lives in the Dana Greenhouses? Get a behind-the-scenes look of the greenhouse growing process, from seed to sprout to seedling to tree. Meet at the Bonsai and Penjing Collection above the Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden.
There is a 15 person maximum.

Free, registration is limited and requested at my.arboretum.harvard.edu

Sign up for fall classes: registration begins on July 14th for matriculated degree candidates and on July 18th for all others. Click here to view available courses.