Thank You and Welcome Back to Our Volunteers!
On Wednesday, November 10, we were able to have our first in-person volunteer event since February of 2020! Staff and volunteers were able to catch up, answer questions, and discuss Arboretum operations over some cookies and coffee. Guelph Urban Forest Friends (GUFF) presented their 2021 awards at the event. The Notable Trees of Guelph award was presented to the ‘Grandparents Pine’ in Preservation Park. Nominated by Dave Penny, this 144-year-old Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) grew in a stone fence separating two agricultural fields and is now responsible for much of the pine growth in the surrounding forest. The award recognizes trees in Guelph that have a significant story or connection to the community. Norah Chaloner was presented the 2021 Henry Kock Award for her dedication to tree stewardship. Norah has been an advocate for trees and the environment for over 20 years. One of the founders of GUFF, Norah also served on the board of the Wellington Water Watchers before helping to found Yorklands Greenhub. If you would like to read more about the awards, check out this article or visit the GUFF webpage.
With over 400 acres of land to maintain and so many events, workshops, and programs, volunteers play a key role in keeping The Arboretum looking great and running smoothly. In summer of 2021, we were able to welcome back some of our grounds, gardens, and nursery volunteers after almost two years, and they returned ready get back to work. Their hard work, enthusiasm, and expertise was greatly appreciated this summer.
This fall, the docents were able to return to walk the grounds as a group for the first time this year! In addition, The Arboretum Centre is now open to the public to visit, and we have our front desk volunteers waiting to answer questions, offer direction, and much more. It is so exciting to have so many familiar faces (and some new ones too) in our building!
Photo: The docents tour the Gosling Gardens for their first meeting this year.
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Ecoleaders Explore Mushrooms at The Arb
Michelle Beltran, Naturalist Intern
The Arboretum and Nature Guelph have teamed up to run Nature Guelph’s Ecoleaders program! The Ecoleaders program aims to nurture high school students’ interest in nature and connect them with other nature-keen students. Once a month, from October to June, the they will meet in The Arboretum to learn from our interpretive staff. For October’s session, they dove into the wonderful world of fungi!
 
The Ecoleaders keenly searched for mushrooms in and around Victoria woods. The wet fall we've had provided great conditions for fungi growth. From bright orange jelly fungi to large clusters of turkey tail mushrooms, we quickly came across a nice variety of mushrooms!
As we explore different areas of The Arboretum, the Ecoleaders took pictures and notes of the mushrooms they found. While mushroom identification can be challenging, they did a great job of noting unique characteristics of the mushrooms they saw. In some cases, a mushroom's spore print can help with identification. Spore prints are collections of spores produced by a mushroom. Spores can vary in color, making them a useful feature for distinguishing mushrooms that visually look alike. The Ecoleaders also created spore prints to help them identify some of the mushrooms they saw. Each month they will partake in hands-on learning through citizen science or volunteer experiences. For this month, the Ecoleaders submitted their fungi observations to iNaturalist (a citizen science project).
Top left: Orange jelly fungus (Dacrymyces palmatus) on a rotting log. Top right: Turkey tail mushroom (Trametes versicolor) growing on a tree. Bottom: Spore print from Pholiota squarrosoides. Photos by Michelle Beltran.
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Gift Locally with Arboretum Merchandise and Workshops!
Support The Arb and fulfill your holiday shopping needs with Arboretum merchandise and workshops! Know someone who loves to explore the outdoors? Our biodiversity identification sheets are especially great for younger nature enthusiasts! Each sheet has over 50 colourful images that can be easily compared, rather than flipping through a guidebook. Merchandise like our bamboo t-shirt featuring our logo and the leaves and names of 16 trees that you can find at The Arboretum (a staff and volunteer favourite) or our Buffs made from 95% recycled materials protection are the perfect gift for someone who wants to show their support for The Arboretum! We also have brand new logo stickers that are waterproof and resistant to the effects of UV rays. They are great for water bottles, laptops, car bumpers, or anywhere else you can think of! Sending a gift to someone who lives far away? Avoid long lines at the post office by having us ship directly to your loved one!
You can also give the gift of experiences from The Arboretum this holiday season. Do you have a friend or family member who loves spending time outdoors? We offer workshops on a wide array of topics, from bird watching to gardening, mushroom identification to art. Whether they are interested in starting a new hobby or looking to expand on their existing knowledge, our workshops have something to offer to everyone! We offer both in-person and virtual workshops, so you can gift an Arboretum workshop to someone no matter where they are!
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Upcoming Workshops
 Ask The Arb
Noon-hour session covering Q&A topics from horticulture to birding. Whether you're worried about a plant in your garden or curious about an odd bird behaviour, join Interpretive Biologist Chris Earley and Horticulture Manager and Curator Sean Fox for a monthly discussion. Nov 30
 Virtual Bird Identification with Chris Earley
Birding has become an even more popular hobby now that more people are home and enjoying nature. Why not take it to the next level? This workshop series includes eight noon-hour lectures on eight different bird groups: hawks, ducks, sparrows, sandpipers, gulls, spring warblers, fall warblers, and spring migrants. ID techniques, field marks, shapes, behaviour clues, and more will be covered. Fridays at 12
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 Virtual Constellation "Walk" with Trevor Chandler
Join us for monthly sessions as we get to know the night sky a little better. Participants will be introduced to prominent stars and constellations, where to look for them and how the motions of planet Earth cause them to appear to shift from hour to hour and month to month. You will receive a downloadable star map to help you make your way through the stars. Nov 25
 Owls: A Who's Whoo in Ontario
Discover how to use your eyes and ears to identify Ontario's Owls. Through a wide variety of hands-on activities participants will learn about owl plumage, calls and behaviour, habitat requirements, migration patterns, and owl folklore. The day will be spent learning in the classroom. Registrants will have the opportunity to participate in an outdoor Owl Prowl on The Arboretum grounds. Jan 21
 Owl Prowl
Learn about the behaviour and adaptations of owls in the Guelph area. The introduction to this program will take place indoors, but participants are encouraged to dress warmly in preparation for a walk outdoors at night. The Adults only program is for adults and teens aged 14+. The Families program is open to everyone, however children must be accompanied by an adult. Families Jan 28, Adults Jan 29
 Virtual My First Vegetable Garden With Robert Pavlis
This course is designed for the new gardener or the gardener that has only been growing vegetables for a couple of years. The course starts at the very beginning, with ordering seeds and ends with a detailed discussion of the 10 best vegetables for new gardeners. Robert is a Master Gardener and garden writer who runs two popular gardening blogs and has published several gardening books. Feb 15
 Virtual Wildlife Garden Design Course
Learn how to design a diverse garden space that attracts native wildlife species through key design elements, plant choices and maintenance needs. This course will draw from concepts found in The Arboretum’s Gosling Wildlife Gardens. Participants discover the relationships between plants and wildlife and how these ideas can be applied to a backyard! Date TBA
 Virtual Gardening Fundamentals With Robert Pavlis
Garden Fundamentals will focus on ornamental gardens including trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs and grasses. You will learn how these plants grow and their relationship with the soil. The course will cover practical topics such as planting, maintenance, plant selection, sun requirements, and Robert will give you some of his top picks. This course is suitable for the beginner and intermediate gardener. Mar 15
 Virtual Japanese Garden Design Course
Taught by our Head Gardener Cael Wishart, this introductory course to Japanese garden design covers the traditional techniques used to establish gardens of peace and Zen. These gardens require a high attention to detail in both design and maintenance. Wherever your interest lie, in theory or in practice, this course is intended to help you appreciate and understand this unique tradition. Date TBA
All of our virtual programs are offered live on Zoom, and recordings are made available for registrants to access for a limited time. Visit our website to learn more about these and our other programs. Register early to save your spot!
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What To See
To learn more about what is happening or what to look out for at The Arboretum please follow us on social media. We are on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Search for us at @ uogarboretum. [Click on the photos below to see the posts and more on Instagram.]
 Here at The Arboretum, looking at the trees means there are smiles all around (and not just on our faces)! Can you make out the smiling face in the leaf scar of this Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)?
A leaf scar is the scar that is left behind on a twig once a leaf falls off. In some species, this can be a helpful characteristic to look at for identification, especially as the leaves drop from the branches. Black Walnut has a distinctive leaf scar that is said to look like the smiling face of a monkey. This certainly puts a smile on our faces, and we hope that it it does on yours as well!
 Fall is a kaleidoscope of colour at The Arboretum! Just take a look at this Freeman's Maple (Acer x freemanii) leaf. Did you know the Freeman's Maple is a naturally occurring hybrid between the Red and Silver Maple? In this autumn leaf, yellow from the Silver Maple part of the tree and red from the Red Maple part of the tree blend to create a masterpiece that is all parts beautiful!
You can encounter this lovely tree all along the main promenade and throughout our grounds. Happy exploring!
 Eastern Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) are one of the more cold hardy native species of snakes here in Ontario. While they will overwinter in a dormant hibernation-like state during our frosty Canadian winters, they are one of the species you can spot out and about later in the year (and earlier in the spring!) compared to the other snakes around. And what a treat it is to see a surprise November Garter!
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From the Collection: The First Tree
Sadie Campbell, Horticultural Intern
Though the trees in the Maples Collection were some of the first planted The Arboretum, this Ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) in the Native Trees of Ontario west loop is technically our first collection tree. Back in 1970 after Professor R.J. Hilton and the Arboretum Study Committee’s masterplan was approved, the first staff began collecting plant material in earnest. This Ironwood was collected as a young sapling, along with five others in Bala, Ontario. When it was brought back to The Arboretum, it was given our first accession number – 1970-0001/001.
The accession number system is how Arboretum staff keep track of the plants in our collection. When a new plant is entered into the collection, it is assigned a unique number with two basic parts. The first part is the year the plant was added to the collection – 1970, in the case of our first tree. The number following the dash is a serial number for the specific year the accession was created. Since the Ironwood was the first accession created in 1970, it was given 0001. Some trees in the collections, like this Ironwood, have a third number separated from the serial number by a forward slash (/001). Sometimes a batch of plants from the same source all share one accession number, so this lets us track each as an individual. Our plant records keep track of information like the plant's source, form in which it was originally received (such as cutting, seed, or plant), and eventually its location and health.
While it may not be the largest and showiest tree in our collections, we think that Ironwood is a pretty fantastic first tree. Native to Ontario, this species can be found in forest margins across southern Ontario, with range extending north from Lake Nippissing to Sault Ste. Marie and Kenora in western Ontario. Ironwood rarely grow more than 12 metres tall and are fairly short-lived. However, these small, slow-growing understory trees have some unique traits that make them stand out in the landscape. Ironwood is identifiable by its shaggy, peeling bark and simple, alternate dark green leaves with distinctive sharp-toothed edges that turn yellow in fall. In late fall, the leaves turn a coppery tan colour and persist on the tree well into the winter, making this tree easy to spot in the winter landscape. The tree’s male flowers, called catkins, are also present on the tree through the winter, hanging down from the branches in groups of 1-4. It has a dense, pyramidal form that becomes more wide spreading as the tree matures, with long, slender branches that give it a fine texture. Its seeds are enclosed in a papery sac-like pod that resembles the fruit of hops, though they can’t be used to make beer! The pods also persist on the tree from summer through winter.
Ostrya virginiana is known by two common names, Hop-hornbeam because of the hop-like appearance of its fruits, and Ironwood because of its incredibly hard wood. In fact, Ironwood has the hardest, densest wood of any tree species in Canada! Its small size means that the wood is not often used commercially, but its durability made it a popular material for things that have to withstand lots of wear and tear, like tool handles, mallets, longbows, and fence posts. Ironwood is also used by many other animals, as its seeds, catkins, and twigs provide a valuable winter food source to white-tailed deer and many small mammals and species of bird. Next time you take a walk in our Native Trees west loop, see if you can spot our first tree!
Top: The Ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) in the Native Trees of Ontario west loop. Middle: The accession tag of the Ironwood. Bottom: Photos of Ironwood catkins, bark and branching, and dry seed pod. Photos by Sadie Campbell.
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Weddings at The Arboretum
Are you recently engaged and planning your 2023 wedding? Nestled amongst 400 acres of gardens, trees, trails, and scenic vistas, The Arboretum offers two outdoor ceremony locations and a newly renovated indoor reception space with barrier free access.
For availability, rental rates and to schedule a tour, contact Dawn Ann Webster at 519-824-4120 ext. 54110 or dawnann@uoguelph.ca.
Photo by Brandon Taylor Photography. |
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Sustainable Maintenance at The Arb
If you’ve walked along our Promenade in the past few months, you may have noticed something in the World of Trees collection near our new sign. Beside the Promenade, a large plastic tarp is spread over a section of the ground. This is where we plan to expand the native willows represented in the World of Trees. Willows will thrive in the wet site and serve as examples for visitors who want to get to know this tricky genus. In order to prepare for the new specimens, we must first remove the invasive grass, privet, buckthorn, and rose that would quickly out-compete new plantings. Using techniques like tarping allows us to develop our collections sustainably, without any herbicide or large-scale land disruption with excavators. The tarp smothers the unwanted plants, preventing the light from reaching them. The heat and moisture trapped by the tarp then help to decompose organic material more quickly. This warm, wet environment also encourages weed seeds to germinate, which are then killed by the lack of light. Tarping can also improve soil structure by encouraging earthworm activity and can help retain nutrients. The tarps stay on the ground for a few weeks to a few months, sometimes even over winter. When we are ready to plant the site, we move the tarps to a new location, or store them until we’re ready to use them again!
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In the Ecosystem
 Australian Hussam Saraf has been awarded the Guinness world record for most types of fruit grown on a single tree, with a tree that grows ten varieties of fruit and five different species. Using fruit tree grafting techniques, Saraf has created a tree that grows white nectarines, yellow nectarines, white peaches, yellow peaches, apricots, peachcots, almonds, cherries, red plums, and gold plums! Check out this CBC article to read more about this world record tree.
 Noticed anything new on Gordon street your drive to The Arboretum? The Art Gallery of Guelph has installed its 40th permanent installation in the Donald Forster Sculpture Park! There will be a public launch event on Saturday November 20th, but if you can't attend the sculpture park is free to visit year round! Look for this new addition by the Begging Bear. Click here to learn more about the sculpture and register for the event!
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Donation and Dedication Opportunities
 We are excited to share that we have a new dedicated portal for Arboretum Supporters to make direct donations!
This year we are focusing our efforts on sustainability, interpretive and wayfinding signage, and the next stages of our tree conservation work. With your help we can make our efforts go further, join our community of supporters today.
Donor Stories
Did you know that you can donate stock to The Arboretum? A gift of appreciated securities is a great way to support The Arboretum. Donors receive full tax credit for the fair-market value. Contact us using the form on this page for more information.
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The header of this month's newsletter is a tamarack on frosty morning along the Wall-Custance Memorial Forest Trail. Photo by Polly Samland.