Central Park’s cherry blossom trees delight visitors and locals alike. While April ushers in the bright blooms of the Yoshino cherry trees, park guests can also enjoy the more colorful Kwanzan cherry trees in early May. Find your way to some of Central Park’s top cherry blossom spots with this interactive map that the park debuted this year. Learn more about the park’s cherry blossom offerings and get a sneak peek at the beauty in the gallery below.
Days have grown darker and shorter. The weather has turned cold. Winter is here, and the end-of-year chaos has officially begun. During these chilly months, it can be tempting to stay inside all day. After all, what can you do outside when it’s so dark and cold? Well, at botanical gardens across the United States, you can see some incredible holiday light displays.
Botanical gardens are great places to visit year-round, but they have a different kind of allure in the winter. When temperatures drop and many plants go dormant, gardens keep the magic alive with sparkling, colorful holiday lights. Find one to visit with this list of five of the best holiday light events going on at botanical gardens throughout the country.
The holidays will be here before you know it. That means it’s time to start brainstorming present ideas. For your hiking buddies, a nice new daypack or thick socks can do the trick. For dad, you can’t go wrong with a cozy hammock or new camping gear And for your friend who recently got into birdwatching? Well, they’ll be delighted to unwrap a new pair of binoculars.
But what about the plant-loving gardeners in your life? Do you know what to get them? If the mere thought of figuring out which planters and trowels to buy sends you into a panic, this guide is for you. These 12 gardening gift ideas will help you find the right present for all of your green-thumbed loved ones.
A decorated tree covered in sparkling lights and tinsel serves as the main Christmas decoration for millions of families throughout the United States. While many of these families will pull out an artificial tree to decorate, plenty of others still make the trek out to a local farm to pick a live Christmas tree.
If your family regularly uses artificial trees, it may seem old-fashioned to cut down a fresh Christmas tree every year. You may even think that doing so is bad for the environment. However, according to The Nature Conservancy, using real trees can actually support forests.
“Real trees help fight climate change, and even though your Christmas tree is cut down, you’re actually supporting forests,” The Nature Conservancy explains. Real trees generate less carbon emissions than it takes to produce and ship plastic trees. Plus, when “natural trees are harvested for sale, there are more than ten times as many left standing! Out of the 350-500 million growing on tree farms across the U.S., only 30 million trees are harvested for Christmas each year.”
So, this year, consider opting for a real tree. You’ll appreciate the evergreen scent, and you’ll support the environment and local businesses. Get inspired with this list of five Christmas tree farms across the country.
When we visited the Mountain Top Arboretum on a beautiful autumn afternoon, it was lovely and peaceful. Hardly anybody was at this public garden near Tannersville, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. The arboretum’s boardwalks and trails boast 178 acres of wetlands, meadows, forest, and plants, plants, plants.
If you like to combine your hikes with some nature education, you’ll probably like the arboretum. Visitors can walk a few miles of trails while stopping to read interpretive signage. People like me who always need a refresher course on tree ID will appreciate the round blue name tags tacked to trunks here and there.
Photo by Teresa Bergen
During my visit, the fall leaves were very beautiful. But photos showing the arboretum meadows blossoming in spring, or snow blanketing the leafless trees in winter, suggest that it’s worth the trip year-round.
West Meadow
The arboretum is divided into East and West Meadows. The West Meadow features the Rain Garden, which slows spring and summer runoff. Plantings in Bird Cove offer shelter, food, and a place to nest for some of the 60 species of birds who frequent the arboretum.
Artist Harry Matthews calls his stacked rock art “Anthropoliths.” / Photo by Teresa Bergen
You can also stroll a spiral labyrinth or check out the stacked rock sculptures. I especially liked the collections of dwarf conifers.
Photo by Teresa Bergen
East Meadow
The East Meadow has the Pine Allée, where you can walk between grand rows of eastern white pine. I was excited to wander the Fern Trail — until I realized the obvious, which is that ferns die back into a crunchy dry mass of brown in autumn. I imagine it’s glorious in spring. My favorite part of the East Meadow was the Wetland Boardwalk, which was very colorful in the fall.
Photo by Teresa Bergen
Wildlife at the arboretum
Depending on the time of year and your own good fortune, you might encounter some small but interesting critters inside the arboretum. The West Meadow Rain Garden provides a rich habitat for many species, offering them a place to lay eggs under leaves, drink flower nectar, or eat some berries and seeds. Monarch butterflies appreciate the meadow’s milkweed, while the nocturnal spotted salamander uses soft rush as a protective covering to hide from predators.
A view of the West Meadow. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Arboretum events
The arboretum hosts nature-related walks and workshops. Upcoming events include a class on making holiday centerpieces with natural materials, guided walks, and a tree ID class. Next March, artist Laura Leigh Lanchantin will teach the traditional method of making watercolor paint from the sedimentary rock and clay of the Catskill and Appalachian Mountains. Then, she’ll guide you through an open-air painting session with your new paint. All for 10 bucks!
If you go
This isn’t the place for your cutest shoes — unless your cutest shoes are rain boots. Be prepared for some mud and muck. A rain jacket also came in handy during our visit. You can wander the arboretum for free, but they appreciate a donation of at least five dollars. The nearby All Souls Church is also worth a look. We walked over from the West Meadow to check out this Episcopal stone church built in 1894.
All Souls Church. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
If you visit in winter, this is a good place to snowshoe. And sorry, Fido, no dogs allowed.
Winter can wreak havoc on a garden. Many plants simply aren’t hardy enough to withstand dropping temperatures and a layer of frost. So, what is a home gardener to do? Well, while your peonies and coneflowers can probably remain safely in the ground through the cold months, other species will require extra attention.
Wondering which plants to bring inside for winter? See the list below for a round-up of eight species that will need to overwinter indoors. Plus, find helpful tips for how to handle the transfer process. In general, you’ll want to start bringing plants inside once temperatures start reaching 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Before lugging all of your potted plants inside, you’ll also want to weed out any pests lingering on the leaves.
Find more tips below, and read up on which bugs to watch out for with this guide.
Don’t put off your fall sightseeing plans any longer! All of those lovely leaves will be gone before you know it, and you’ll want to rack up plenty of photos and memories to remember the season. Outdoors Wire can lead you to some of the best states for seasonal celebrations and show you an excellent fall road trip route, but what options are there for the plant-loving traveler?
If you’re interested in investigating the various tree species that make autumn such a gorgeous time of year, this photo guide is for you. Below, you can explore a list of the eight best trees for bright fall colors and get info on where to spot them in the United States.
Not everyone can have a green thumb. For some gardeners, keeping plants healthy and happy is an uphill battle. If that sounds like you, don’t worry. Caring for your outdoor plants doesn’t have to be that way. With a little planning, you can have a stress-free and low-maintenance garden.
The trick is choosing hardy plants. Different plants thrive in different climates, but there are a few species known far and wide for being extremely resilient. These hard-to-kill outdoor plants include everything from flowering beauties to reliable ground cover. Find a few to add to your garden with the photo guide below.
Almost every home gardener experiences it at some point. One day, your plants look healthy and strong. The next, they’re being infested by creepy crawly bugs. While not all insects are harmful, some can wreak havoc if left unaddressed. If the wrong kind of critter makes a home in your garden, you can expect to see problems ranging from stunted plant growth to plant diseases.
So, what is a home gardener to do in the face of these pests? The first step is identification. You’ve got to understand your problem before you can tackle it. Check out this list of eight bugs you don’t want in your garden. Plus, find some helpful tips for getting rid of them.
Joshua Tree National Park attracts millions of visitors from all over the world. Each guest who enters the park will find something to love, like the famous Joshua trees or dramatic rock formations. However, only adventurers willing to drive a little further into the desert can enjoy the wonders of the Cholla Cactus Garden. Here’s what you should know about this special spot.
A winding road from the park’s north entrance leads drivers on a 12-mile journey to the garden. A small parking area marks the beginning of the Cholla Cactus Garden Nature Trail. This flat path takes hikers on a tour of the garden’s unique teddybear cholla. These cacti are covered in thin but sharp spikes that give the plant an almost fuzzy look in the right light. Find out the best times to see them and other helpful tips in the list below.
