Interested in taking a class? Click here to see a complete list of upcoming educational programs.
Calendar of Events
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Spring Break Camp
Spring has sprung! Send your nature lover to a week full of hands-on outdoor discovery celebrating the change of season. What’s stirring in the pond, sprouting from the soil, and emerging in the trees? Participants will explore different habitats for signs of animals and plants that come to life in spring, enjoy games and stories, and express creativity through themed arts/crafts. Camp features a blend of indoor and outdoor learning, a camper to staff ratio of 4:1, experienced environmental educators and naturalists, and loads of fun!
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Twilight Thursdays
Twilight Thursdays
Every Thursday from April 4 to June 13, we’re staying open until 7 p.m. so you can enjoy our display gardens in the evening. Our exhibit hall and Garden Shop will be open, and you’re welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy outdoors – we have lots of benches and picnic tables, plus open lawn...
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Annual Evelyn McNeill Sims Native Plant Lecture with Bill Finch
Annual Evelyn McNeill Sims Native Plant Lecture with Bill Finch
The longleaf pine ecosystem has often been described as North America’s most diverse forest ecosystem, and longleaf, like few other ecosystems, fostered diversity within and outside its canopy. But understanding the diversity of that diversity will be critical not only to maintaining longleaf pine but also to restoring forest ecosystems that can survive the dramatic changes of the next century, while more equitably serving the people who live there.
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CANCELLED: Bluets: Preschoolers Exploring Nature – Spring Series
CANCELLED: Bluets: Preschoolers Exploring Nature – Spring Series
Learning comes naturally during this fun-filled series that fosters a sense of wonder for nature and science. Preschoolers will get their hands dirty learning about seeds, dip in the pond for tadpoles, observe birds up-close, pretend to be pollinators, and more through hands-on activities, outdoor exploration, stories, crafts, and group play. Healthy snack provided. Program is led by experienced early childhood environmental educators.
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Hybrid Lunchbox Talk – Naval Stores and the Real Tar Heels: A History of the Longleaf Pine Forest and a Call for Preservation
Hybrid Lunchbox Talk – Naval Stores and the Real Tar Heels: A History of the Longleaf Pine Forest and a Call for Preservation
Emmy Award Winning Farmer and Historian Earl L. Ijames explores the origins of the term 'Tar Heel' and asks you to join efforts to save our treasured longleaf pine forests.
Twilight Thursdays
Twilight Thursdays
Every Thursday from April 4 to June 13, we’re staying open until 7 p.m. so you can enjoy our display gardens in the evening. Our exhibit hall and Garden Shop will be open, and you’re welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy outdoors – we have lots of benches and picnic tables, plus open lawn...
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1 event,
LighterWood Farm Tour – How the Natural History of the Sandhills Created the Rich Cultural History
LighterWood Farm Tour – How the Natural History of the Sandhills Created the Rich Cultural History
The North Carolina Sandhills is a natural strip of land straddling the Piedmont and Coastal Plains. It also lies in the natural zone between the Northern US and Southern US plant communities. This geological location has created a suite of plant and animal adaptations unique to the Sandhills of North Carolina. This tour explores how this natural history has created the cultural history. LighterWood Farm is a great example for how the natural history informed and created much of the highland Scot’s culture of the Sandhills, such as the naval stores economy and even the architecture of the Scots.
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Hybrid Lunchbox Talk – Longleaf Pine Restoration Benefits: The Perspective of a Landowner and Forest Manager
Hybrid Lunchbox Talk – Longleaf Pine Restoration Benefits: The Perspective of a Landowner and Forest Manager
Longleaf pine forests once covered over 90 million acres of the Southeast, but they have been reduced to less than 5 million acres today. Restoring longleaf pine ecosystems is a challenging but rewarding endeavor that requires patience, knowledge, and passion. In this talk, a current forest manager and landowner will share his experience and insights on restoring his family’s land with longleaf pine, and how he has benefited from its superior timber quality, pine straw income, and wildlife habitat. He will also discuss the current and future economic value of longleaf pine forests, and how they can help landowners diversify their income streams, reduce risks, and enhance environmental quality. This talk is intended for a general public audience who wants to learn more about longleaf pine restoration, including its economic benefits to the landowner, from a boots-on-the-ground perspective.
Twilight Thursdays
Twilight Thursdays
Every Thursday from April 4 to June 13, we’re staying open until 7 p.m. so you can enjoy our display gardens in the evening. Our exhibit hall and Garden Shop will be open, and you’re welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy outdoors – we have lots of benches and picnic tables, plus open lawn...
2 events,
School’s Out Camp: Plant Superpowers!
School’s Out Camp: Plant Superpowers!
Why do carnivorous plants trap bugs? How does a tiny seed travel hundreds of miles to find a new home? Why would a tree release toxic chemicals to attack other trees? Let’s figure it out! Campers will investigate the wild and wonderful ways that plants meet the challenges of their environment through hands-on outdoor exploration, experiments, and games, and then create their very own super plant. Camp features a blend of indoor and outdoor learning, camper to staff ratio of 4:1, experienced environmental educators and naturalists, and loads of fun!
Drawing and Painting NC Fauna and Flora: Borer Moths and Pitcher Plants
Drawing and Painting NC Fauna and Flora: Borer Moths and Pitcher Plants
North Carolina hosts a large number of insects and plants that depend on each other, sometimes benignly, beneficially, or as a pest. This class will look into the life history, morphology, and dependency between Sarracenic flava and Papaipema appassionata (Green pitcher plant and Pitcher Plant Borer moth). Students will work in drybrush watercolor. The instructor will provide images to paint from.
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Rewilding: through Mindfulness, Creativity, and Nature
Rewilding: through Mindfulness, Creativity, and Nature
Join us for a creative and mindful journey to cultivate wonder, wisdom, and wild peace as we co-create with nature. In this session we will explore a contemplative practice coupled with a creative activity such as nature mandalas, wisdom cards, and expressive poetry. Through these invitations, you will enhance your nature connection, self-awareness, and creative expression, all while deepening your sense of peace and calm. This compassionate space will inspire and nourish you as we embrace the gifts of the natural world.
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Exploring the Longleaf Pinecone through Drawing
Exploring the Longleaf Pinecone through Drawing
Create a botanical study page depicting the longleaf pine in pencil. Discover through drawing the identifying features of the cone, scales, and seeds. Learn how to tackle the complex pinecones' spiraling structure on day one. Day two will be spent creating a tonal monochromatic study of the seeds and scales in a drawing medium of your choice.
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1 event,
Twilight Thursdays
Twilight Thursdays
Every Thursday from April 4 to June 13, we’re staying open until 7 p.m. so you can enjoy our display gardens in the evening. Our exhibit hall and Garden Shop will be open, and you’re welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy outdoors – we have lots of benches and picnic tables, plus open lawn...
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2 events,
Little Sprouts: Seed Surprise
Little Sprouts: Seed Surprise
For ages 3-5 with a participating caregiver. What's inside a seed? How do they grow? Where can we find them? Little ones will get their hands dirty learning all about seeds through hands-on discovery, play, stories, and planting their own seeds to take home.
Drop-In Discovery Station: Pine Power!
Drop-In Discovery Station: Pine Power!
We’re celebrating the amazing longleaf pine habitat this spring. Drop in at the discovery station for a celebration of all things longleaf pine trees! How do they grow? Why do they need fire? What animals depend on them? Find out! Try your hand at pine needle painting and cone stamping, and then enjoy a scavenger hunt for a prize.
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Explore Natural and Cultural History at the Green Swamp Preserve
Explore Natural and Cultural History at the Green Swamp Preserve
The Nature Conservancy’s Hervey McIver and Debbie Crane will join Julie Moore, coordinator for the Venus Flytrap Champions program, and Sue Jacobs and Darlene Jacobs, coordinators of the Waccamaw Siouan Healing Green Space, to learn about the area’s amazing natural and cultural history of the Green Swamp. This will be a particularly interesting time to visit the preserve, which was completely burned during a wildfire last summer, which is having an amazing effect on its many fire-dependent plants.
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