Events & Programs at the Arboretum

The 28th Annual Gingerbread Wonderland

Celebrating 28 Years of Wonder!

This December marks the 28th Anniversary of Gingerbread Wonderland. Guests, young and old, marvel at the creativity, skill and sense of optimism that characterizes this charming and ecumenical exhibit of hundreds of edible structures.

Click to enlarge

Vote for your personal favorite in The People’s Choice Award. An award will be given to the first place winners in each of the categories that include Adult, Family, Children, School, Scout and Special Needs.

And now, we have added a new category, Robotics! Click the image at right for more informaion.

Groups of 8 or more must make a reservation to visit by calling 973-326-7601.

Coloring Page

ENTER YOUR GINGERBREAD WONDERLAND CREATION

Enter your edible structure in one of six categories: Adult, Family, Child, School Group, Scout Group and Special Needs.

Be a part of this Morris County holiday tradition this year by entering and then visiting the show. Here are all the materials you need to enter your own creation in this year's Gingerbread Wonderland (click on each to open in a separate window):

• Entry Brochure - all the rules and an entry form. Don't Delay -- Enter Now.
• Gingerbread Recipe - a tried and true recipe for your primary construction material.
• Construction Instructions - a how-to.
• Gingerbread House Coloring Page - for kids of all ages.

Dates: Friday, December 6 through Sunday, December 15

Time: 10:00 am – 4:30 pm daily, Fridays until 7:30 pm

Cost: Cost: $2 per person, children under 2 FREE

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Family Photo Scavenger Hunt

Grab a camera or phone and stop by the Haggerty Education Center for a nature photo scavenger hunt.

Dates: October 15 – November 24, and December 21 through December 31

Families welcome to participate any time between 9:00 am and 3:30 pm

Check morrisparks.net for program descriptions Call 973.326.7601 to register.

Cost: $10 per family at front desk

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: MCPC

In Our Gallery - January

Expressions of Nature Art Walk Artists

Stroll through the Gallery for a chance to admire the diverse collection of mixed media featuring artists and crafters from the Expressions of Nature Art Walk.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Botanical Drawing for Beginners with Katy Lyness

Do you ever wish you could capture the details of a plant long after you’ve seen it? This introductory class teaches you how to make realistic drawings of plants using a variety of techniques. Learn to draw a selection of plant parts, including branches, stems, leaves, and flowers, for pleasure or to expand your drawing skills.

Artist Katy Lyness is a passionate home gardener and teaches botanical illustration at the New York Botanical Garden. She has been represented in international exhibitions and is active in the Tri-State Botanical Artist Group. She received her MA in Art Education from Columbia University Teacher’s College.

A materials list will be provided at registration.

Dates: Four Saturdays, January 4, 11, 18, 25

Cost: $100 members / $140 non-members for the series of four classes.

Cost: See above

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

North American Butterfly Association

Topic: “2019 Year in Review – Looking Forward by Looking Back” – Garry Annibal

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

African Violet Club of Morris County

Judging African Violets

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Great Swamp Bonsai Society

To receive a free newsletter for updates and events, please email club president John Michalski at huonia@aol.com.

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Northeast Judging Center of the American Orchid Society

Anyone may bring an orchid to be judged or listen in on the educational programs.

10:00a Educational Program

12 Noon Orchid Judging:

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

New Jersey Mycological Association

Meeting.

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Benjamin Blackburn Scholarship Lecture

Rob Cardillo: The Art of Garden Photography

Since 1979, the Friends of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum have supported horticultural education through a scholarship named for Dr. Benjamin Blackburn. Join professional garden photographer Rob Cardillo as he illustrates the crafting of sweeping landscapes and compelling plant close-ups through engaging instructive stories. From pre-visualizing to post-processing, Rob will provide you with new tools and new ideas to help you find and translate your own vision of Eden, even if you only use an iPhone.

Rob Cardillo

Rob Cardillo has been photographing gardens, plants and the people who love them for nearly thirty years. He has been credited as the primary photographer in over twenty-five books including The Art of Gardening at Chanticleer (by R.W. Thomas), The Layered Garden (by David Culp) and Chasing Eden (by Jack Staub). Rob’s work is also seen in publications such as Country Gardens, Gardens Illustrated and The New York Times. Along with his Blue Root Media partners, Rob provides editorial content for an award-winning regional gardening magazine, GROW, published quarterly by the venerable Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Winner of numerous photography awards, Rob was inducted into the Garden Writer’s Association Hall of Fame in 2015. You can see more of his work on display in the gallery of the Haggerty Education Center throughout the month of February and at www.robcardillo.com

Dr. Blackburn was a professor of Botany at Drew University. His involvement with the Morris County Park Commission began with his friendship with Henry and Robert Tubbs, whose property, Willowwood, eventually became the Willowwood Arboretum. Dr. Blackburn published many articles and wrote a number of books on gardening as well as being the host of a very popular radio gardening program. He generously shared his vast knowledge and deep love for horticulture with many staff members in the Horticulture Division and with his countless fans – members of the Friends of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum and area garden clubs.

Admission fees support the scholarship that is offered to students in the Landscape Technology Program at County College of Morris. This scholarship allows inter- ested students the opportunity to explore the different horticultural, environmental, and design studies offered through the accredited CCM programs. The increased knowledge the students acquire in the classroom and through hands-on programs at CCM will benefit them as they enter their chosen field in horticulture and landscape design. Light refreshments follow the talk.

This program is eligible for 2.0 Rutgers Master Gardener CEU’s.

Cost: $40 members / $50 non-members

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

North American Butterfly Association

Topic: “Brilliant Butterflies of Panama” – Sharon Wander

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Frelinghuysen Arboretum Gesneriad Society

2019 Gesneriad Society Convention – slide show from the convention flower show in Cincinnati.

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

African Violet Club of Morris County

African Violet Society of America – Program on Hybridizing

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

TriState African Violet Council

Program to be determined.

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

North American Rock Garden Society – Watnong Chapter

Speaker Barbara Melera lectures on ‘The D. Landreth Seed Company and The Story of America’s Great Seed Houses’

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Let’s Talk Perennials

Ann Fahey, Superintendent of Horticulture Education introduces you to some beautiful perennials that will bring color to your garden throughout the seasons. Bring in a photograph of your garden and she will give you helpful hints to customize your space.

This program is eligible for 1.5 Rutgers Master Gardener CEU’s.

The Friends can no longer offer on-line registration for Morris County Park Commission programs. Please call 973.326.7601 between the hours of 9:00 am and 4:30 pm for information and registration.

Cost: $20 per person

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: MCPC

Symposium: Martha Brookes Hutcheson

Celebration of Women in Landscape Architecture, Starring Local Legend Martha Brookes Hutcheson

Martha Brookes Hutcheson was the second female landscape architect in the United States and her property, Merchiston Farm, now called Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center, is part of the Morris County Park system. Her gardens have been restored and her design aesthetic is in evidence there, as it is in many gardens throughout the Northeast. She was a woman who bucked convention and was ahead of her time in so many ways. Her book, Spirit of the Garden, was re-issued by the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2001 and is still as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 1923 to rave reviews.

Join Professors Laura Lawson, Connie Webster, Anette Freytag, Kathleen John-Alder and Jean Marie Hartman of the Landscape Architecture Department at Rutgers University for a symposium about women in Landscape Architecture, past and present. Bring a bag lunch. Drinks provided.

This program is eligible for 4.0 Rutgers Master Gardener CEUs.

Cost: $45 members / $55 non-members

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Bus Trip with the Friends: 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show

Join the Friends on this always popular and highly anticipated annual trip.

Inspired by the world’s exotic Mediterranean gardens, the 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show invites you to fall in love with gardening all over again. Chat with garden experts and watch how-to gardening demonstrations in the Gardener’s Studio. See top floral designers in fun-filled competitions in the Designer’s Studio and shop acres of vendor booths brimming with merchandise in the Marketplace.

Explore the hundreds of award-winning plants in the PHS Hamilton Horticourt and enjoy lunch and/or dinner on your own at the show or the Reading Terminal Market.

Bus leaves from the arboretum parking lot.

No refunds after February 15.

Cost: $80 members / $90 non-members.

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Frelinghuysen Arboretum Gesneriad Society

Propagation Workshop RSVP required, reply to Karyn Cichocki, kdc05@ptd.net

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Tenth Annual Community Garden Conference

The Friends of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Morris County are teaming up to present their Annual Community Garden Conference for the tenth year in a row. We can hardly believe that it’s been 10 years since the first conference was held and this year we are bringing back our very first keynote speaker, Dr. Laura Lawson!

The impressive list of session speakers, all experts in their field, will cover topics relevant to community gardeners, garden managers, and those trying to establish a new community garden. The topics for the 2020 conference include: Weed ID and Management with County Agent and Rutgers Vegetable Expert Peter Nitzsche, Straw Bale Gardening with a team of Rutgers Master Gardeners who experimented with this type of growing throughout the 2019 season, Early Season Vegetable Gardening with Virginia Lamb, Finding and Securing Funding Sources with Samantha Rothman, Culinary Herbs with Lindsay Napolitano and back by popular demand, Farmer Shaun Ananko on Succession Planting. Read all about the speakers and programs in the by clicking the image at right.

Join us for a full day of education, exhibitors, networking, and camaraderie. Lunch is provided.

This program is eligible for 5.0 Rutgers Master Gardener CEU’s.

Please bring a donation for the Interfaith Food Pantry of Morris County.

Register and pay in either of two methods: Download the registration form above to pay by check or register and pay on line by clicking the button below.

PLEASE DO A SEPARATE REGISTRATION FOR EACH PERSON SO WE CAN GET THE RIGHT COUNT OF PROGRAM SELECTIONS AND MEALS.

Cost: Cost: $50 pp before February 1, $60 pp February 1 and after

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Make a Macramé Hanging Planter Workshop

What’s old is new again! Join Samantha Matthews to create a beautiful macramé hanging planter.

Learn a few basic knots to create your own handmade wall hanging in this beginner macramé class. You will leave with a finished wall hanging and the knowledge to design future pieces.

Class fee includes all materials.

Cost: $40 members / $50 non-members

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Home Garden Club of Morristown

11:30 am Meeting

1:00 pm - “Through the Garden Gates of England” a photographic tour of private and public gardens with a discussion of characteristic elements and practices.

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Northeast Judging Center of the American Orchid Society

Anyone may bring an orchid to be judged or listen in on the educational programs.

10:00a Educational Program

12 Noon Orchid Judging:

Affiliate Member Programs are free and open to the public.

Cost: Free

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

Cooking Demonstration: Are You Ready for Arugula?

Take advantage of the start of growing season with Chef Cynthia Triolo. Learn new recipes and techniques for cooking with arugula, that wonderful, peppery and versatile springtime favorite.

Cost: $25 members / $30 non-members

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA

An Afternoon with Paul Meyer

Botanical Adventures in Kazakhstan – Recent Travels in the Altai Mountains

Join Paul Meyer, recently retired Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia, for an illustrated lecture on his recent trip to the dramatic Altai Mountains in Kazakhstan. He will highlight major tree species of this region as well as the rich diversity of steppe and alpine wildflowers.

Join him as he and his fellow adventurers travel well off the tourist path and experience a part of the world relatively unblemished by modern development.

This program is eligible for 2.0 Rutgers Master Gardener CEUs.

Cost: $35 members / $45 non-members

Location: Haggerty Center

Sponsor: FOFA