by Chris Earley

This month is the letter C. How many of these Arboretum "C" creatures can you identify? The answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.

by Shelley Hunt

Spring has finally sprung, and there are many woody plants and forest wildflowers (those spring ephemerals, like trilliums, that take advantage of the extra light reaching the forest floor before the trees leaf out) coming into bloom in The Arboretum. It’s a great time to come for a visit! Despite the warmer weather, reminders of the past winter are still all around us – most strikingly, damaged and fallen branches from December’s ice storm. Our staff has been working diligently to clean up, and we also took advantage of some student volunteers looking for a study break during final exams. While we will be removing and chipping downed branches from the collections and park-like areas of the grounds, you may notice that in the woodlands, dead wood is left where it falls (unless it is on a trail or poses a safety risk). While this may, to some, give a messy appearance to our forest areas, that dead wood can provide all kinds of benefits to the ecosystem – from releasing nutrients, as it breaks down, for plants to use, to providing shelter to various kinds of wildlife from insect larvae to small mammals. Salamanders are an example of a kind of animal that relies on the damp microenvironments that fallen branches and logs can provide. And although they are tiny, salamanders can be important players in the workings of the forest ecosystem. Researchers in California recently discovered that salamanders eat large numbers of the kinds of bugs that consume dead leaves on the forest floor. Their experimental plots with more salamanders had fewer leaf-eaters and more dead leaves left to stick around and decompose slowly, retaining carbon that would otherwise be quickly released to the atmosphere, where we have quite enough already! Plots from which salamanders had been removed had more dead-leaf-eating bugs, and much less leaf litter as it had been broken down quickly thereby releasing its carbon. So, maintaining a salamander-friendly environment, by leaving fallen logs and branches in place on the forest floor, may allow our forests to store more carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere. This is just one example of how even the smallest kinds of wildlife can play a big role in the way a forest functions.

Speaking of the ice storm, the donor-supported purchase of a wood chipper last year has been a huge help to our clean-up efforts. Over the past year, generous contributions from donors have also allowed us to support student interns, summer student workers, and our Horticultural Assistant, Polly Samland. We’ve also been able to purchase a mechanized soil screener for processing composted plant waste from the grounds, gardens and nurseries, allowing us to re-use this material efficiently. And keep your eyes out for new interpretive signage along the trail in the Native Trees of Ontario collection – we have designed and installed several signs to educate and inform visitors about our native trees, and we’ll be rolling out dozens more in the coming months – another example of a donor-supported initiative. To all of our generous donors – thank you!

Arboretum GIS Technician Kellen Wood and student
volunteers take a break during an afternoon of
ice-storm clean-up

by Ric Jordan

A topic that comes up in every conversation I have been involved in recently has been the weather and about the only sure thing one can say is that yes we have weather. What it is like or going to be like seems to be a moving target making work plans difficult. Suffice it to say that we adapt and go about our activities as best we can. We are fortunate to have a great crew at The Arb this summer. On the educational and interpretive side of things Christina is busy planning Wednesday evening walks which are listed elsewhere in the newsletter. Jesse is working on acquiring the needed text and photos for our Native Trees of Ontario interpretive signs. Working out of the Hilton Centre Jenn, Jim, Nathan and Owen have quickly got into the swing of things starting with priority clean-up of damage from the ice storm. Although the clean-up is not finished by any means we have switched over to a maintenance mode to keep the grass and gardens from getting ahead of us as the weather has warmed up. Volunteer groups in the gardens and collections have started and will be hitting full stride next week. The plant sale group has been busily getting material potted to be grown on for this year’s sale. No words can express our gratitude to these individuals well enough. If you are interested in joining one of our groups please contact Ranee at ext. 52358 and explore the possibilities.

The U of G is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with many events occurring over the summer months. One that The Arb is a part of is National Garden Day celebrations Friday June 13th. Details have not been finalized yet but I can tell you that the official opening for this wonderful variety of garden styles, content and uses will be held at The Conservatory Gardens on campus and then visitors can explore Branion Plaza, Guelph Center for Organic Agriculture, the Trial Gardens at GTI and our own Gosling Wildlife Gardens and The Garden complex. Free buses will transport visitors from location to location on a regular schedule. Once details are finalized info will be posted at http://www.uoguelph.ca/50/ as well as on our own web site www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum

Elsewhere in this newsletter you will see a notice about CASL – Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation. Going forward we will need your express consent to continue sending you our communications so I would ask that you please respond to the request so that we don’t lose any of our followers. It would be wonderful if we are able to keep 100% of you on our distribution list so please follow through. You can always unsubscribe at a later date if you wish.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. - Frank Lloyd Wright

Ric


Summer Staff 2014 (from left to right) - Nathan, Owen,
Christina, Jennifer, Jesse, (Jim missing from photo)

Join Christina, the new Summer Interpretive Naturalist, for Wednesday Night Walks at The Arboretum June through August. The cost is only $2 with children under 5 FREE! Walks take place every Wednesday evening from 7 - 8:30 p.m., beginning at the J.C. Taylor Nature Centre.

For more information please contact The Arboretum at 519-824-4120 ext. 52363 or go to our website.

Extreme Evolution (June 4)
Plants and animals are in a constant arms race to evolve for survival. To avoid being eaten, find a mate, and survive the elements we will see some of the cool ways creatures of the world have evolved to live in different environments and then explore some of these adaptations in The Arboretum!

Creatures and Features of the Creek (June 11) (FREE in conjunction with Two Rivers Festival)
Come discover the array of plants and animals that live in The Arboretum Creek and most likely in the creek nearest you! In this hands-on workshop we will be discussing the importance of creeks, their natural diversity, and conservation practices.

The Basics of Birding (June 18)
Beginner and experienced birders alike: join us on a walk through The Arboretum to spot some of our local birds! We will learn some of the basics of bird identification, some of the common birds found in Ontario, and then head outside to see what we can find. With over 200 species of birds sighted in The Arboretum this birding adventure will be fun and informative for all levels of experience!

Nature Photography 101 (June 25)
From landscapes to macro-photography to creeping up on things that just won’t stay still! We will learn how to capture nature at its finest in an evening of nature photography. We will have a photo scavenger hunt through the Arboretum and get some great shots of Ontario’s flora and fauna. Don’t forget your camera!

The Secret Lives of Gardens (July 2)
We can all appreciate a beautiful garden, but what is going on that we are not able to see, or do not pay attention to? We will answer this question and learn about some of the native plant species here in The Arboretum that you can incorporate into your own garden to attract local wildlife.

Nature’s Engineers: Nests and Other Amazing Structures (July 9)
Animals have been building nests for millions of years; there are even fossil records of dinosaur nests! Over time nests have become very complex and from birds and turtles to termites and wasps we will explore this fascinating world. We will also look at other amazing structures built by animals, including spider webs and burrows!

Canadian e-communication laws are changing, and we want to be able to keep you up-to-date on valuable news, events and activities at or related to The Arboretum, University of Guelph. Through our e-mails/newsletters/electronic communication we strive to provide timely information on upcoming workshops, lectures, products, and services offered by The Arboretum. Occasionally we also highlight products and services of similar organizations that are available. We may also include information relevant to trees and nature and announcements of events we are holding or planning in conjunction with other University of Guelph departments, environmentally focused or tourism organizations.

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Alternatively, you can copy and paste the above two paragrapahs into the body of an e-mail and send it to "[log in to unmask]" with "CASL Agreement" in the subject line.

Mark your calendars! We will be hosting the Arboretum Bioblitz on Sunday, June 22 in The Arboretum Centre. Visitors are welcome to join us anytime between 10 am and 4 pm. After a brief intro at 10, we will split into groups to go out and look for all things alive! Last year we recorded over 400 species of plants, animals, lichens and fungi. More details can be found soon on our website.

The Arboretum’s grounds are the perfect setting for group tours. Our knowledgeable docents (trained volunteer guides) give pre-arranged 1 ½ hour tours of the Arboretum’s grounds, gardens, collections and other points of interest. The tours can be focused on the areas that are seasonally appropriate and / or that are of interest to you and your group. Tours should be booked a minimum of 2 weeks in advance. The cost is $5 per person, with a minimum charge of $60. Tours provide an excellent break for a meeting group. For further information on tours or to make a reservation please contact Barb Watson – Ash at [log in to unmask] or 519-824-4120 ext. 54110.

The Gardening Fundamentals, Sparrow, Invasive Species - Plants, Sketching Nature, Close Up and Macro Photography, Look See Paint, Lichens, Moths and Medicinal Plants 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 will allow 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.

The woods are hopping! There are blooming trilliums EVERYWHERE in Victoria Woods and spring migrant birds are being seen here as well as in Wild Goose Woods. Turtles and snakes are sunning themselves, queen bumble bees are looking for nesting sites and a mink has been seen hunting along the trails. We also have many cherries, forsythias, magnolias and serviceberries in bloom, adding splashes of welcome colour after our long winter.

  
Northern Brown Snake                           Sargent Cherry

              
               Trilliums

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]