For both ecological and economic reasons we no longer print and mail a seasonal program listing of our workshops and special events. The information is now distributed via this e-newsletter and is always available on our website. We do appreciate your past and future support of our workshops; the income supports other Arboretum educational endeavours such as brochures, signs, booklets, tours and our website.

If you know of people who may be interested in our workshops who do not receive this e-newsletter we would appreciate if you would pass this information on to them. To subscribe to the newsletter follow the simple instructions as outlined on our webpage at: http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/educationandevents/enewsletter.shtml

If you have a spot in your community or at your workplace where you can display our workshop posters, please send us an e-mail at [log in to unmask] and we will be happy to send them to you.

Below is a list of upcoming workshops at The Arboretum. Please forward this e-mail to your friends and colleagues! The more participants we have, the more programs we can offer.

We now offer an on-line registration process which allows you to register for our programs 24/7 as they say, not just during our regular business hours. A secure link is provided for this easy registration process. Click here for the link.

This month's quiz contains Arboretum inhabitants that all have the word "red" in their name. Can you get them all?  A printable version is available by clicking here.  The answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.

2017 has arrived, and the new year has brought a buzz of enthusiasm to the OAC Centennial Arboretum Centre and the RJ Hilton Centre as Arboretum staff busily prepare for an exciting year ahead.

Interpretive and horticultural staff have been working on new signage, maps and labels for installation in various parts of the Arboretum. Education staff have helped commence the University of Guelph’s winter semester with labs and lectures for various programs. And, Arboretum workshops are already underway for the year, with Animal Tracking, Night Stalker’s Owl Prowl and Winter Landscape Photography coming up soon.

If you register for a workshop here at The Arboretum you will see the new registration system. We hope the new program will be more friendly to use. Once you register for a workshop you can log back in at any time to the system to view your upcoming registrations, past registrations, print copies of receipts and confirmations etc.

Volunteer seed groups have been working throughout the autumn and winter to assist Arboretum staff with the cleaning and processing of hundreds of seed crops. These efforts are now being transferred over to the Henry Kock Propagation Centre, and the greenhouse will soon be full of freshly germinated seedlings. These plants will find homes throughout The Arboretum’s collections and gardens as part of a number of development initiatives.

Our marketing and bookings staff, along with our front desk volunteers, have been doing a fantastic job for the steady stream of visitors that have been arriving to The Arboretum for visits, meetings and events. Grounds staff have been busy doing their best at keeping paths and roads clear of ice and snow in a winter filled with unpredictable weather.

The Arboretum is open year round so visitors can enjoy the great outdoors. If there is enough snow you may see people snowshoeing or cross country skiing. Some trails are open for walking however we cannot ensure that they are in "pristine" condition. We do try to keep some of them clear but the amount of clearing done is based on staff availability as well as equipment availability. Please be sure to take care based on the conditions.

In our woodlands, you may have noticed some arboricultural work being done in the past couple of weeks. Although Emerald Ash Borer first entered Guelph several years ago, the majority of our ash trees in The Arboretum have remained mostly free from infestation until this past summer. While many of our ash still appear strong and healthy, we have had to begin felling a few trees that have succumbed to the insects that pose a falling hazard near our trails. When possible, the weaker canopy limbs have been removed, while the trunk has been allowed to remain standing. The standing columns of dead wood that remain are referred to as “snags”, and act as important habitat for wildlife, as well as a key component to forest succession. While Emerald Ash Borer will have a great impact on The Arboretum, we’re fortunate to have such high levels of genetic diversity and biodiversity on our site, which will most certainly help soften the blow. While keeping our trails and collections safe will keep us very busy in the years ahead, the visual impact will be buffered by the abundance of healthy neighbouring canopies nearby (https://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/thingstosee/trees). We’ll continue to monitor the impact of Emerald Ash Borer throughout this coming year, and will provide updates about our ash protection measures in newsletters to come.

As I type this mid-January update, I can feel the thud of hammer and nails vibrating throughout the walls of the RJ Hilton Centre. The distraction is only temporary while the aging shingles on the roof are being replaced. The JC Taylor Nature Centre received a similar treatment last month. January also provides a brief window of opportunity within the walls of the RJ Hilton Centre to spend some more focused time on a number of important tasks before the growing season begins again. Tools and equipment are inventoried, replaced and repaired; garden planting plans and maintenance schedules are updated; and the time for critical plant records inventory and GIS mapping work is increased. Be sure to visit our Arboretum Explorer (http://guelph.arboretumexplorer.org/default.aspx) throughout 2017 and beyond, as it will be continuously updated as new collections and areas of the Arboretum become digitized.

Until next time, we hope you’re able to get outside to enjoy all that winter at The Arboretum has to offer.

by Polly Samland

I enjoy reading about plants, and one purpose of The Arboretum is to act as a living library, where specimens provide us with physical reference material. A tree we have read about on a gardening website or in a natural history book can be looked up in the field, and we can observe in person what was described in words and photographs. In the plant world – from botanical field guides to garden catalogues- everyday language is mixed with botanical Latin. It is quickly apparent that there are many different ways to say similar things (synonymous use of hairy/pubescent, suckering/colonizing, weeping/pendulous is common).

One advantage of experiencing winter is that the structure of deciduous trees and shrubs becomes clearly visible. Using examples from The Arboretum, this article provides a casual tour of some woody plant terminology and features that are showcased by the season.

Let’s begin with habit. Habit is the general shape that a species most commonly grows into, like its silhouette. Some plants change their habit based on their habitat (field or forest grown, high or low elevation) but, even so, will continue to follow innate patterns, such as opposite or alternate branching.

In arboriculture and pruning guides, tree form is often divided into very broad categories of excurrent or decurrent. The excurrent tree has a single central trunk, with a ‘scaffold’ of smaller diameter branches coming off it. A decurrent tree consists of multiple main limbs all bearing smaller branches, resulting in a broad, open crown. This is a way to look at tree structure and describe it, more than a method of identification. Young trees are frequently pruned to develop a strong central leader, and some species are unpredictable, equally likely to end up excurrent as decurrent. Others have a fairly consistent habit that you may recognize; poplar shoot straight up in a single spire, while weeping willow tend to sprawl limbs in all directions.

Familiar words are stolen from our common arsenal of language to describe the forms of plants –the shapes of geometry (cone, globe, triangle) are used, as are architectural words (pyramidal, columnar), and poetic actions (weeping, creeping, arching). More obscure words like prostrate and fastigiate may require explanation. A prostrate habit is horizontal, with branches following the ground, spreading out and down. In a fastigiate habit, branches grow into a narrow, upright form.

Some ornamental and identifying features are best discovered in winter. Now is a great time to examine the leaf scars of black walnut or to distinguish a green from a white ash. Lenticels on bark – also an id feature - can stand out dramatically on wet, darkened trunks. Nurseries commonly list special features like exfoliating bark, and this is much more noticeable in the winter on shrubby species. Peer into the canopy of an apple and see how fruit spurs have different lengths of inter-nodal growth from ordinary branches. Also visible is the line (sometimes an actual branch scar) between old and new wood – this can be quite dramatic on trees and shrubs that have brightly coloured young shoots.

Next time you go for a stroll in The Arboretum, try bringing a set of words to look for in the trees.


Excurrent: dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), big-toothed aspen (Populus grandidentata)
Decurrent: serviceberry ( Amelanchier canadensis), weeping willow (Salix babylonica)



A very different habit can be common within the same genus , as you can see with these two different species of magnolia pictured ; cucumber magnolia (Magnolia acuminata); Proctor’s Magnolia (Magnolia x proctoriana).



A cultivar of sugar maple bred into a fastigiate
form, Acer saccharum ‘Temple’s Upright’.



exfoliating ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) ; lenticels visible on a flowering cherry (Prunus x yedoensis ) ; the bright new growth of dogwood cultivar Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ in the Park in the Garden.

A printable version of this article is available by clicking here ...http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/January%202017/Plant_Terminology_Polly_Jan_2017.pdf

by Jason Chan , Arboretum Naturalist Intern

“Grey skies above, white snow below, that’s how you know, that it’s a junco”, said Chris Earley, the Education Coordinator here at The Arboretum, as we were walking back to the office one day. The Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) is often a familiar bird to us around this time of year. During the winter, their range expands south (as far as Northern Mexico) as flocks of these birds come round to our feeders, hopping around on the snow, giving them their nickname, “snowbirds”. Their migration down south is used by many as an indicator of winter’s arrival, and similarly, winter’s departure as they head back north in April.

When I first started learning my birds, I remember the junco being one that stood out to me because of their cotton-candy pink beak. But there’s more than meets the (dark) eye when it comes to the juncos. There are 15 different recorded subspecies, with distinct and recognized groups such as the Slate-coloured Juncos, White-winged Juncos, Oregon Juncos and Grey-headed Juncos. It amazes me and I hope it amazes you just how incredibly diverse the natural world is - even just within the species of Dark-eyed Juncos!

As ground dwellers, they form cup-like holes in the ground when they nest, and they hop around in search of their favorite treats, seeds! They’ve been seen displaying a certain foraging behaviour known as “riding”, where they would hop onto the tip of a seed head and ‘ride’ their way down to the ground before indulging in a crunchy snack. I imagine it to be like pole vaulting - though with wings I guess it’s a bit unfair if they were to partake in the Olympic games.

Perhaps they weren’t exactly meant to be athletes, but like many other birds, they’re surely singers. Could you identify a junco by its song? Most of us can recognize the song of the chickadee or the calls of the nuthatch, but many of us may not know the song of the junco; in fact, many may not have even heard or noticed their song. This is because for most of their time here it isn’t breeding season and therefore there is no need to sing. But if you lived up north you would most definitely hear their chirps and trills in the summertime when it's time to mate.

Though juncos are sometimes overlooked, I think it’s quite special that we get to have them around every winter. Studies have found that juncos return to the same spot every year, so the birds you see out your window may very well have been ones there before. So the next time you’re wrapped up in a cozy blanket, watching the snow fall with a cup of hot cocoa, know that there’s a special visitor outside, the Dark-eyed Junco.

A printable version of this article is available by clicking here... http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/January%202017/Dark_Eyed_Junco_Article_Jason.pdf

Nature is known to be unpredictable and unexpected, so what awaits us today? Jason, the Naturalist Intern, will be leading free walks every Wednesday, January through April. Walks will begin at The Arboretum Kiosk at 12:15 p.m. The kiosk is at the end of The Arboretum closest to campus just past Child Care Services, Alumni House and East Residence (when coming from camous). Please contact x53615 or [log in to unmask] for further information. Click here for a printable pdf of the flyer: http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/January%202017/Wednesday_Afternoon_Walk_Flyer.pdf

Many of you have probably seen our t-shirt that we started selling at the end of November. We now also have a hat available. The hats are made of a moisture wicking, UV protectant, active wear fabric with an elastic buckle and hidden velcro adjustable size system. They are $28 including tax. The t-shirts are $33 including tax. You can purchase both of them at our offices in The Arboretum Centre during business hours. For further information please contact Barb Watson - Ash at [log in to unmask] or 519-824-4120 ext. 52358.

Congratulations to all of you that were engaged over the Holiday Season! If you or someone you know is looking for a space for your wedding ceremony and / or reception please contact Dawn Ann Webster at 519-824-4120 ext. 54110 or [log in to unmask]. Further information on our unique reception facilities and outdoor ceremony sites can be found on our website.

 
West Lawn                                          Auditorium

Our recent Winter Bird Survey in very cold temperatures showed some great species including the Eastern Towhee (new for the 38 year count), Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker and some fresh Ruffed Grouse tracks. Other tracks seen recently include Short-tailed Weasel, Mink, Great Horned Owl, Turkey, Coyote and either Smoky or Masked/Cinereus Shrew. Our flock of robins is still around and lots of birds are coming to our bird feeders. We also have a resident porcupine that is showing itself, too. Our incredible interpretive interns found a winter crane fly perched on the snow as well.

 
Porcupine                                          Sharp-shinned Hawk
photo by Chris Earley                          photo by Chris Earley

 
Great Horned Owl Tracks                     Winter Crane Fly
Photo by Chris Earley                          Photo by Jason Chan

Be a part of the BetterPlanet Project by donating on-line:

Your donation can be directed to The Arboretum online through the secure University of Guelph donation page: http://uofg.convio.net/arboretum

If you prefer not to make an online donation, there are several other ways to provide your financial support. You can choose to donate by telephone, mail, fax, or in person:

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH Attention Alumni Affairs 50 Stone Road East Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Tel: 1-888-266-3108 ext. 56934 Tel: 519-824-4120 ext. 56934 Fax: 519-822-2670 Email: [log in to unmask]

If you would like information on bequests and planned giving to The Arboretum please contact:

Ross Butler
Director, Gift Planning
at (519) 824-4120 ext. 56196 or by e-mail at [log in to unmask]