Interested in taking a class? Click here to see a complete list of upcoming educational programs.
Hybrid Lunchbox Talk: Saving the Wild South: The Fight for Native Plants on the Brink of Extinction
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCThe American South is famous for its astonishingly rich biodiversity. In her new book Saving the Wild South, Georgann Eubanks takes a wondrous trek from Alabama to North Carolina to search out native plants that are endangered and wavering on the edge of erasure. Even as she reveals the intricate beauty and biology of the South’s plant life, she also shows how local development and global climate change are threatening many species, some of which have been graduated to the federal list of endangered species.
Winter Flora
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCThis course is designed for a broad audience as well as for students who are enrolled in either of the Garden’s certificate programs. Field trips and exercises provide experience in the use of identification keys and recognition of plants in their winter condition in natural settings. Enjoy discovering that many trees and shrubs are easily recognized when not covered with leaves! Course fee includes a copy of Winter Tree Finder by May and Tom Watts, which will be required for this course.
Geology for Botanists and Ecologists
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCThis primarily lecture course is a survey of the principles of geology most important to the distribution of native plants and natural communities. Classes cover the different types of rocks, their chemical and physical effects on the soils that form from them, the geological processes that shape the earth’s surface and the landforms that result from them, and the way natural communities align with these patterns. This course is intended for a broad audience, but some familiarity with natural communities, native plants, and some exposure to basic chemistry will be beneficial.
Virtual Lunchbox Talk: Naval Stores and the Longleaf Pine Industry in Southeastern NC
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCIn a time before cars, trains, and airplanes, water was often the easiest or the only means of long-distance transportation. Eighteenth-century ships were sailing ships, and they were made almost entirely of wood.
Naval stores are goods used in building and maintaining ships. Originally, 'naval stores' included everything used to build a ship meaning tar, pitch, and turpentine. All of these products came from pine trees, and particularly, the Longleaf pine, which North Carolina had in abundance. For that reason and others, North Carolina became a key supplier to the British Navy, and naval stores became central to the colony's economy.
Hybrid Darwin Day Lecture: Quercus Circus: The Biodiversity and Ecological Value of Oaks
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCOaks are one of the defining tree species in our world, with a long and fascinating history. Charles Darwin considered the nature of oak species to be “a thorny problem”, but new genetic research suggests that we have come to a nuanced understanding of the oak species concept. This seminar will demystify the genus Quercus by walking through the branches of the oak tree of life. You will discover more about the natural history of oaks and the role they serve at the ecosystem level, including how current research aims to shed light on the ecological role of hybridization.
Container Gardening with Native Plants: Virtual
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCAre you low on outdoor gardening spaces? Perhaps you're looking to add new color or interest to your landscape, or maybe you'd like to make your porch or patio look more inviting. Join NCBG Curator Becca Wait for this virtual class as she shares tips for growing native plants in containers and shares which plants thrive in pots.
Plant Taxonomy
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCThis course builds on the fundamentals taught in Botany and prepares students for supplementary material covered in Flowering Plant Families. It is a core course for students enrolled in either of the NCBG public certificate programs. Students learn the basic concepts of the taxonomy of vascular plants and how to identify plant families by making observations of selected characteristics. The use of taxonomic keys is introduced. Interesting examples are studied to illustrate current issues in plant taxonomy and nomenclature. This course serves as a prerequisite for Flowering Plant Families. Prerequisite: Botany
Botany for the Artist
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCTraditional botanical illustration was relied on to record and share the identification of plants through accurate representation. Botany for the Artist is a practical course which hopes to encourage the inquisitive artist to understand, interpret and improve their botanical knowledge by reinforcing terminology, observing and notating plant structure and practicing identification with the taxonomic keys.
The four lessons—Habitat, Flower Parts, Leaf Comparison, and Fruit Structure—will culminate with the students drawing a graphite work representing a specimen identified at the NCBG.
Drawing and Painting a Rhinoceros Beetle: Virtual
North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NCNorth Carolina hosts many different species of cool beetles, and the rhinoceros beetle ranks high in their midst. This class will address its physical characteristics and life cycle. The first class will concentrate on a black and white value drawing' the second, a finished watercolor. Students can draw and paint from their own photograph or one provided by the instructor. Students will need to let the instructor know if working from their own source.
Hike: Dutchman’s Breeches at Willie Duke’s Bluff
Penny's Bend Nature Preserve Old Oxford Rd, Durham, NCMilo Pyne will lead you to the natural area known as Willie Duke’s Bluff. You will have the opportunity to observe an outstanding display of Dutchman’s breeches and other rare and unusual spring native wildflowers including some of our local ephemeral favorites, including bloodroot and dimpled trout lily.
This hike is somewhat difficult, depending on your abilities, and includes one steep climb. During the hike you will be off trail during times, and if there have been recent rains, parts of the trail might be muddy, so please wear sturdy shoes/boots and long pants. This traverse usually requires approximately three hours. Meeting spot provided upon registration.