Due to popular demand, UNL Gardens' informal walking tours of the Earl G. Maxwell Arboretum on East Campus will continue through the summer. The tour schedule will shift from weekly to twice a month: the second and fourth Tuesdays, noon to 1 p.m.
The tours are led by Emily Levine, special projects research horticulturist with the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture and former grounds supervisor for the arboretum. They are free and open to the public.
Throughout late spring and during the summer, visitors will continue to examine and learn about the woody plants of Maxwell, with a growing emphasis on the herbaceous plants of the Yeutter and Fleming Slope Gardens. Students can supplement their formal horticultural education, faculty and staff can gain more knowledge about their campuses' gardens, homeowners can get ideas for their own yards, and everyone can appreciate the beauty and science of the plants in the arboretum during a leisurely walk.
Originally dedicated in 1969, the Earl G. Maxwell Arboretum later became one of the first sites of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. Growing out of experimental plantings by Maxwell, the state extension forester, in the 1940s, the arboretum is the university's premier green space, showcasing collections of individual tree and shrub species, herbaceous gardens, native prairie, a vine arbor and much more.
Participants should meet at the Karl Loerch Gazebo, just off Holdrege Street one block east of the UNL Dairy Store. Some metered parking is available on the East Campus Loop south of the arboretum. In the event of rain, that week's tour will be canceled. The next regularly scheduled tour will be May 25. Other summer dates are June 8 and 22, July 13 and 27, and Aug. 10 and 24.
A special tour of native plants will be conducted June 1 in conjunction with Nebraska Wildflower Week.
For more information, contact Levine, (402) 472-6274 or elevine2@unl.edu, and go http://unlgardens.unl.edu for tour updates and information about Maxwell Arboretum.
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/n6i