"E" stands for "eek" since this month's quiz is pretty challenging! How many can you get? The answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.

by Shelley Hunt

Fall is here and with it comes a flurry of activity at the Arboretum – from last weekend’s annual plant sale to the Wall-Custance Memorial Forest service this coming Sunday to the many workshops we are offering over the next few months. We are also very excited to be hosting two intriguing talks this fall – the first, by Harry Jongerden, Executive Director of the Toronto Botanical Garden, on the evening of October 2nd (see details in this newsletter), will explore “Why Gardens Matter”. The second, by Dr. Marc Berman of the University of Chicago on the afternoon of November 21st, will discuss some fascinating research on the theme of “your brain and nature”. More details to come. All are welcome to attend both talks.

Notably, of course, September is also the time when students flood back to campus, and The Arboretum becomes a busy hive of student walkers, joggers, cyclists and even varsity athletes in training. Professors are bringing classes of students out here this fall to study everything from groundwater to bird behaviour to tree identification to bumblebees. U of G courses in environmental sciences, biology, landscape architecture and fine art, among others, all make use of The Arboretum, especially at this time of year. On top of all of this, many students, including both undergraduates and graduate students, are embarking on independent research projects that involve collecting data in The Arboretum. Our staff frequently work with students to orient them and provide information on the many and varied species of flora and fauna, the variety of different environments from forest to meadow to wetland, and the botanical collections, all available for study. We’re happy to be a go-to place for student projects. Who knows what kind of discoveries will be made this Fall!

by Sean Fox

September is always an exciting time at the Arboretum, and perhaps our most active time of year, as we welcome thousands of visitors to our grounds for some of our biggest events.

We begin with our Arboretum Auxiliary Plant Sale, which was held this past weekend, and despite the cold, rainy weather, the smiles upon the faces of all of our attendees, volunteers and staff couldn’t be held back. Before opening, hundreds of eager, umbrella-toting plant enthusiasts lined up at the RJ Hilton Centre gates, and a steady stream of attendees continued throughout the day. I’ll admit that we were a little concerned that the poor weather would encourage people to stay at home, but after such a successful event, we were ourselves encouraged that so many would come out to support us for one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. A huge thank you to all of our volunteers and staff who came out to make the event happen; their efforts to prepare for the sale begin many months in advance and continue right through until the day-of, and we absolutely couldn’t do it without them. As of this writing, we’re just finishing up with tallying the proceeds that were raised for the day, and these funds will go back into supporting the maintenance and development of our plant collections, gardens and woodlands, and ensuring that they remain open and free for the public to explore. We’re already getting excited and beginning our preparations for next year’s sale, so please mark your calendars for September 12, 2015, when we hope you can join us again.

September also brings the return of students to the University of Guelph campus for their fall semester. Many use the grounds as a place to walk or quietly study, and many more explore our plant collections, forests and meadows as part of their course curricula; whether it be plant biology, fine art, landscape architecture, resource management, ecology and many others. It’s always gratifying to see the incredible diversity at The Arboretum being used as a source of learning and discovery. Arboretum workshops are also a great way to gain knowledge while exploring the grounds in autumn, and as always, an array of topics can be found on our website.

This month, The Arboretum will also welcome hundreds of runners and spectators to our trails for the New Balance Vic Matthews Open Collegiate Race and the Human Kinetics Program’s HK5K Fun Run. These races have become annual events at The Arboretum, and have been a great way to share our trails while teaching participants a little more about the trees they pass along their routes. Acting as a host to numerous weddings, meetings and speaker sessions in September provides even more opportunities for visitors to learn about the plants and wildlife they pass by.

And, perhaps the biggest event of all is our annual Wall-Custance Memorial Forest Ceremony, which will be held this coming Sunday, September 21st. We anticipate between two to three thousand attendees, and it will be wonderful to have so many visitors here to enjoy the shade that our growing forest provides.

Finally, while still on the topic of our growing forest, I can’t wrap up without mentioning some of the interesting trees and shrubs that have been added to The Arboretum this past year. While hundreds of trees have been planted, some of the standouts that are brand new to our collections include:

Acer circinatum
Acer henryi
Populus heterophylla
Lindera obtusiloba
Fraxinus insularis

Cercidiphyllum japonicum ‘Miss Grace’
Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Jack Frost’
Magnolia virginiana ‘Ned’s Northern Belle’
Acer shirasawanum ‘Autumn Moon’
Cornus controversa ‘June Snow’

Fraxinus paxiana
Picea sitchensis ‘Papoose’
Schisandra chinensis
Ginkgo biloba ‘Saratoga’
Fagus sylvatica ‘Zlatia’

And, that’s just a few! We hope that you will also be amongst our many fall visitors as we watch these trees grow for generations to come.

Sean Fox
Assistant Arboretum Manager & Head Horticulturist

  
Acer henryi, acquired from the             The unique, trifoliate leaves of Acer
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard               henryi.
University, is a new addition to
our Maple Collection.

Join us on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. in the Auditorium, Arboretum Centre for a free talk entitled "Why Gardens Matter" by Harry Jongerden of the Toronto Botanical Garden. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and admission is by donation.

Why Gardens Matter: At the most basic level gardens give us pleasure, but public gardens are as necessary to public well-being and economic advancement as any public program or infrastructure project. Meet Toronto Botanical Garden's new Executive Director and discover more about why gardens matter in creating a healthy and prosperous civil society.

Harry Jongerden has been a professional gardener, garden designer and garden director for 35 years. He is currently Executive Director of Toronto Botanical Garden, having held the posts of Garden Director at VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver for five years, Head of Horticulture at Royal Botanical Gardens and Head Gardener at the Stratford Festival. He is the author of “This Other Eden” and designer of the Walkerton Heritage Water Garden and Stratford’s Elizabethan Garden. Current expansion plans at TBG have him busy planning a 30-acre expansion to the current garden.

For a printable flyer please click here.

We hope to see you on October 2. For further information please contact us at [log in to unmask] or 519-824-4120 ext. 52113.

Harry Jongerden

The Annual Wall Custance Memorial Forest Dedication Service is this coming Sunday (September 21, 2014) at 2:30 p.m. For further information please contact the Wall Custance Funeral Home at 519-822-0051 or www.wallcustance.com.

Although it definitely doesn't look or feel like Christmas outside, it is time to think about booking your company's Christmas Party. The Arboretum is a perfect location for your Christmas party. We can accommodate up to 150 people for lunches or dinners with a picturesque view of The Arboretum grounds. We still have some good dates available … book soon before they are gone. For further information please contact Barb Watson – Ash, Marketing and Bookings Co-ordinator at extension 54110, [log in to unmask] or check out our website. All catering is provided by Hospitality Services, University of Guelph. For further information on the catering please call extension 53350 or e-mail [log in to unmask].

Mushrooms for Beginners, Shrub Identification, Tree Identification, Basic D-SLR Photography and Building Ponds and Waterfalls workshops are approaching. The dates and registration deadlines can be found in our Coming Events Listing in the column on the left side of this newsletter. A detailed description of each course is available on our website. Help us promote our programs … please forward this e-mail on to your friends and colleagues who may be interested. The more participants we have, the more programs we can offer.

Registration is available on-line which allowa you to register for our programs at anytime, not just during our regular business hours. A secure link is provided on our website for this easy registration process.

If you do not have internet access registration can still be made by phone or in person at 519-824-4120 ext. 52358 as in the past. Please note that a decision is made on the registration deadline as to whether the workshop will run or not, based on the minimum number of required registrants. You may still register after the deadline as long as the workshop is running and there is space.

More monarchs than last year have been flying through The Arboretum. We are tagging the ones we catch, so watch for little white tags on the hind wings of the next monarch you see! The best place to see them is the butterfly bushes in the Gosling Wildlife Gardens - nice nectar and shelter from the wind. There have been lots of great fall migrant birds this September, too, including Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Prairie Warbler (a new one for The Arboretum list). Things are still very green here with all the rain, so come out for a stroll and soak it in before it is gone!

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]