June 23, 2025
Fresh News for the Neighborhood You Love
The plant collections stewarded at the Arnold Arboretum reflect a continuous cycle of growth, change, and renewal, where each plant contributes its own unique threads to the evolving story of the landscape. Just as the Arboretum adds scores of new plants to the collections each year, a commensurate number of plants are also removed annually, representing plants lost to old age, pests and disease, extreme weather events, or other concerns including public safety.
The Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum, a historic museum and administration complex constructed in 1892, stands as a testament to architectural elegance and botanical significance. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a National Historic Landmark, the building has been a cornerstone of the Arboretum’s operations and public education mission for more than a century.
This fall marks a significant milestone for the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University as it celebrates the fortieth anniversary of its flagship programs for children’s education, the Field Study Experiences (FSE). Since their inception in 1984, the Field Studies have been a cornerstone of local environmental education, serving more than 4,500 students annually from kindergarten through sixth grade, primarily from Boston Public Schools (BPS).
Each summer, participants in the Isabella Welles Hunnewell Internship Program at the Arnold Arboretum complete a group project in the landscape as the culmination of their training in public garden management. The challenge for 2024 interns was to interweave the distinct and historically relevant stories of the plants and history of the eastern slope of Bussey Hill. Near the summit of the hill the Arboretum’s crown jewel of plant collecting: the Explorers Garden.
