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Sep 18, 2024

Notes from the Board

“... hardly a day passed when I didn’t stroll myself across a recollection of my
grandparents’ northern Illinois grass, hoping to come across some half-burnt
firecracker, a rusted toy, or a fragment of letter written to myself in some young year
hoping to contact the older person I became to remind him of his past, his joys, and his
drenching sorrows.

It became a game that I took to with immense gusto: to see how much I could remember
about dandelions themselves, …….or searching out the smell of the gold-fuzzed bees that
hung around our back porch grape arbor.”

-Ray Bradbury on Dandelion Wine

Is there a place that stirs recollections in you? For me, one such place was Matilda Frelinghuysen’s Whippany Farm (now The Frelinghuysen Arboretum), a playground for my four siblings and me who lived down the road. I recollect a small pond at the base of a steep, wooded trail, a tree whose trunk angled straight out over the water’s edge before growing upwards again (it’s still there, though the pond is gone), teeming wildlife and seemingly endless August days. The meadows, ravines, forested acres, the river, and that grand boulder among the willows where I wept all my ‘drenching sorrows’. We left notes to each other in the crotches of trees and blurted promises to ourselves on the Weeping Rock.

I doubt Matilda knew we rambled into her woods by way of a broken fence or by means of a hand-hewn raft on the river. The albino buck knew, the black snakes and the catfish. They could hear us coming, we five adventurers.

Now, as a grownup, I thank Matilda every day for safeguarding her property and gifting it to the county as a park for all to enjoy, a harbor of natural enchantment in a highly developed, densely populated area of Morris County. When I see children enjoying the places I explored as a child, I realize it is my younger self that motivates me to advocate for the arboretum and to seek out others willing to dedicate their time and skills toward the preservation of place, this place, The Frelinghuysen Arboretum. So much more than a GPS location.

How did we Trustees spend the summer? We expanded our board and our corps of volunteers; we developed programming to help educate the community and we continued to work on ways to reach out to area businesses. Join us! Become a trustee, a volunteer, a sponsor. We’ll be here with steadfast hearts, recollecting.

Yours in Horticulture,

Heather Emelander, President, Friends of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum



Creative Writing Workshop –Place and Setting in Nature

For All levels, from beginners and beyond, With Ryder S. Wyatt, writer

Thursday, October 24 - 10:00 AM

In the Mansion at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Ryder Wyatt

Do you remember the first time you ran barefoot through the grass as a child? Probably not, but your body remembers. It remembers young and carefree days of playing tag on the lawn, the smell of the freshly cut grass- its bright emerald color in May, and the warmth of the sun on your skin.

Those sensory “memories” remain with you and when recalled, can whisk you back to images of days you spent in nature throughout your life.

In this workshop, you will be guided into remembering those special places and settings, then shaping them into a cohesive narrative on the page.

WHAT TO EXPECT: An hour and a half of discussion, guided writing with prompts, and feedback.

WHAT TO BRING: Pad, pen, or computer; water; -A photo or tangible item as a reminder of your favorite place or setting


Ryder S. Wyatt has been a writer for more than four decades. She holds MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a member of the Somerset Hills Garden Club in Zone Four.

For more information and to register, click on the photo of Ms. Wyatt



2024 TREE SYMPOSIUM

Saturday, November 2 - 8:30 AM

In person at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum

The Friends will be hosting our Annual Tree Symposium on Saturday, November 2. Beginning with registration and coffee at 8:30 AM, attendees will be welcomed to a series of five presentations by a wide variety of speakers:

  • 9:15 – 10:15 AM – A Designer’s Love Affair with Trees - Bruce Crawford
  • 10:15 – 11:15 AM - Grafting Methods for Tree Propagation - Ted Hildebrant
  • 11:15 – 12:15 PM - Trees Are Big, Spaces Can Be Small - Dr. Jason Grabosky
  • 12:15 – 1:00 PM - LUNCH BREAK - ASSORTMENT OF SANDWICHES
  • 1:00 – 2:00 PM - The Trouble with Beech: Beech Leaf Disease - Richard Buckley
  • 2:00 – 3:00 PM - The Versatile Ornamental Small Tree - Steven Kristoph

For more information on the speakers and their presentations, and to register, please click on the tree icon.



Distinguished Speaker Series with Anne 'Dede' Neal Petri
Advancing Democracy Through Landscape Design

Saturday, September 28 - 1:00 PM at the Haggerty Education Center

Anne 'Dede' Neal Petri

Frederick Law Olmsted's philosophy was to create parks for everyone, thus the use of the word democracy (with a small 'd') in the program title. He believed that connection to nature in urban areas was restorative and conducive to mental and physical well-being; he saw the power of parks to bring people of every background together. Olmsted's parks in New Jersey will be highlighted.

Anne 'Dede' Neal Petri holds a degree in American History and LIterature from Harvard University and a JD from Harvard Law School. During the course of a varied and brilliant career, she served as First Vice President and then President of the Garden Club of America, and is now the President and CEO of the Olmsted Network, the only national organization dedicated to protecting, preserving, and restoring Olmsted parks and landscapes across the country. In April, Dede received the National Garden Club of America's 2024 Distinguished Service Medal for her "tireless service on behalf of plants and the spaces created to showcase them".

Light refreshments will be served.

For more information and to register, please click on Ms. Petri's photo.



AT THE ARBORETUM - More Trees

A couple more examples of the lovely trees on the Arboretum's grounds.: A spectacular Acer saccharum 'Bonfire' (Bonfire Sugar Maple) ablaze with fall colors and a lovely Heptacodium miconioides (Seven Sons Tree). A small ornamental tree (13-30 feet tall) with interesting exfoliating bark, and small fragrant flowers that bloom in September - the tree is attractive to butterflies and bees. And a Cercis chinensis cv. Don Egolf (Chinese Redbud) showing off her lovely lavender spring blooms, so easy to see because it flowers before the leaves appear.

Acer Saccharum Bonfire Cercis Chinensis cv. Don Egolf - js Heptacodium Miconioides

Click an image to see them all in our website's picture gallery.


WATCH PREVIOUS ZOOM PRESENTATIONS

Several of our previously recorded events are available to watch on-line.

See our Prerecorded Events page for more information and to register.


Retail Partners

When shopping at our fine Retail Partners, please remember to present your Membership card at the beginning of your check out transaction. Our Retail Partners need to enter the discount at the beginning of that process.

If you have not yet used this wonderful Member Benefit, you can view our full list of Retail Partners by clicking here.



You can register and pay on line on our Events page and Membership page and subscribe to this newsletter here: complete directions for subscribing.


CONTACT US HERE

MAIL:
Friends of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Post Office Box 2267
Morristown, NJ 07962
Web: https://www.arboretumfriends.org
EMAIL:
Content: info@arboretumfriends.net
Tech: webmaster@arboretumfriends.org

Voicemail: 973-937-8803


PARK INFORMATION

Morris County Park Commission Logo
The Frelinghuysen Arboretum is a facility of
the Morris County Park Commission
  • Frelinghuysen, Willowwood and Bamboo Brook Arboreta grounds are open 7 days a week, from 8am to dusk
  • The Haggerty Education Center is open 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM daily except holidays.
  • Parking is limited.
  • HUNTING IN THE PARKS - See the Morris County Park Commission website.


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