If you’re looking to enjoy some of the warm summer sun outdoors with a picnic in the park, you might want to consider checking out your local city, community or university’s arboretum. There you can find yourself with the opportunity to bask in the shadow of native arbors, or maybe find a variety of tropical botanicals. One of the more obvious perks to pulling-up a soft plot of sod or maybe even a distinct type of hybrid seed for your afternoon lunch is the diligence and care that goes into the year-round upkeep of the arboretum’s surroundings. Depending on the size of the local arboretum you might want to consider seeing if they have any programs where you or your little ones can test your green thumbs, or consider renting the space for an event, after all you’ll be hard pressed to find a more environmentally friendly sustainable space.
Nowadays, arboretums are much more than a collection of trees. Most come fully staffed, with attached research centers, where they have classes for anyone interested in studying everything from the soil, the bugs, and the plants to botanical illustration for those with a more artistic interest. I recently found myself at an Illinois regional meeting of the American Institute of Architects on the grounds of the internationally renowned Morten Arboretum, located roughly 45 minutes by car from downtown Chicago. Even in the middle of the week during the hot and humid summer months familiar to the mid-west, numbers of children and families were unloaded by the bus loads to come revel in the natural beauty of the variety of the arboretum’s plantings.
Many of the larger arboretums now have meeting spaces for special events to cater to everything from corporate board meetings and retreats, to weddings and receptions. Not only has this type of outreach a great way of getting the public to visit, but it also helps the revenue stream to further the research to fulfill the arboretum’s mission – often one regarding the education and nurturing of sustainable environments. Sustainable mission in hand, arboretum’s make for a great place for those wanting to show their “green” colors while knowing rest assured that the profits are going towards a good cause.
