by Chris Earley

Our Arboretum inhabitants are getting festive! Can you identify all of these Christmasy creatures? Special thanks to our Interpretive Intern, Alexandra Kocher, for her talented work on these little guys! A printable version is available by clicking here. The answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.

by Ann Estill, Auxiliary Member

Twas the month before Christmas and all thought the Arb,
not a creature was stirring, not even our Barb.
When what to her wondering eyes should appear
But stalwart Marg Gilles* our prime volunteer.
She spoke not a word, but went straight to her work
To trim up the tree she would not ever shirk.
On ninebark and yarrow and goldenrod galls,
On lilac and milkweed and teasel and more
On aster and bittersweet...who’s keeping score?

The hall in the entry, adorned to a T
with natural products gleamed happily.
No glitter, no tinsel, no lights off and on
Just lovely reminders of seasons long gone.
And she heard staff exclaim as she slipped out of sight:
“Happy Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!”


*Marg, who also is active in the gardening and plant sale groups, has decorated our tree for 16 years and we thank her heartily.

Marg and the 2015 Christmas Tree

by Polly Samland

At one time (over 180 million years ago), it is proposed that the surface of the world was arranged differently, and that the isolated islands of the South Pacific -including Australia and New Zealand- were one with South America, Africa and India, existing as a massive supercontinent called Gondwana. One of the ways we can imagine such a transformed version of our world is by studying the relationships of trees, with their native environments and with each other.

At the University of Guelph Arboretum, we have a collection called the World of Trees. The aim is to display the diversity of woody plants that can be grown in our northern temperate climate, including genera and species from across the globe. It is arranged in scientific families, with closely related trees grouped together. In comparison, the Native Trees of Ontario collection includes specimens native to the province, and these trees are arranged to suit (as closely as possible) the environmental conditions they require in the wild. These collections provide two different ways to understand trees; globally and taxonomically or as part of a local ecological system.   Click here to read more....

 
Monkey Puzzles planted ornamentally in          Monkey Puzzle trees in native habitat , Chile
Bicton Park Botanical Gardens,                           (Martin Gardner, photo, from Kew archives)
UK (from Monumental Trees)

                           
                                         19^th century Monkey Puzzle, illustration by
                                        Lambert  (Missouri Botanical Gardens archive)

Cone of Araucaria bidwillii, compared             Norfolk Island Pines in retail outlet, ready for
to a pineapple (W.P. Armstrong, 2006)            Christmas.

We have just colour-banded our 100th chickadee!  Chris Earley, our Interpretive Biologist, has a permit to band birds with individually numbered aluminum Canadian Wildlife Service bands.  He does this with courses such as the 4th year ornithology class to help students learn about research techniques and bird natural history.  Colour-banding chickadees is a special project where, in addition to the aluminum band, plastic colour bands are added to the chickadee's legs in specific combinations.  This allows observers to identify individual chickadees from a distance.  It is hoped that this colour-banded population will give undergrads, graduates, faculty and the public a chance to do research projects on topics such as dominance hierarchies, individual ranges and mate choices that would be hard to study without knowing the individual birds.  Black-capped Chickadees are perfect subjects because they are resident birds and form winter flocks that visit bird feeders.  Plus they aren't nervous around human observers.  So, come on out to The Arboretum and see which chickadee you can find!  Number 100, shown here, is  Yellow/Green (left leg), Black/Silver (right leg) and hangs out near The Arboretum Centre feeders.

Looking for a great gift for the nature lover in your life? We have a series of 5 booklets: Feeder Birds, Wildflowers, Mammals, Dragonflies and Summer Garden Birds which would be a perfect choice for a gift. Each booklet is full colour and is $8. Details can be found on our website.

We also have a nature journal with a series of colour photos in the centre pages and lots of unique pages with leaf backgrounds for sketching or journaling. Each journal is $10.

Our Biodiversity placemats are $5 each or $50 for the set of all 12. Each double-sided, laminated placemat features a different group of local organisms.

Gift certificates are also available for our workshops. Owl Prowls make a fabulous family outing; or check out our other workshops.

To purchase these booklets, journals, placemats or gift certificates please call ext. 52358 or e-mail us at [log in to unmask]. We would be happy to mail these out to you (a mailing fee will apply).

The Arboretum is part of the University of Guelph so we therefore are closed when the University is closed. We will be closed Thursday, December 24, 2015 and re-open on Monday, January 4, 2016. The grounds remain open for you to enjoy from dawn to dusk daily during this time. If you have purchases that you would like to make please visit us prior to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, December 23.

Owl, Animal Tracking, Owl Prowl and Winter Landscape Photography 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.

Registering early is important for us because we need lead time to decide if there are enough people registered to run the workshop or not. To encourage registering before the deadline, we now have an Early Bird Fee. You can still register after the deadline, but it will cost an extra $10, so why not register early?

Registration is available on-line, which allows 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 remember 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.

A flock of 44 Sandhill Cranes flew over The Arboretum Centre a couple of weeks ago, only our 2nd record of this species here. Their haunting calls revealed their presence. Melanie Howarth found a very picturesque Red-tailed Hawk sitting in the open recently. You can see her great photo on our flickr site https://www.flickr.com/photos/52649814@N05/ Interestingly, the bird has a red band on its leg but no official aluminum band. We think this might be an escaped falconry bird. The unusually warm weather has produced some nice foggy mornings, allowing great looks at the shapes of our winter trees.

 
Red-tailed Hawk                                       Sandhill Cranes
photo by Melanie Howarth                       photo by Chris Earley

                      
                       Cucumber Magnolia Tree

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]