Lecture Series

An Evening of Storytelling with the Lenape Nation of PA

Chief Adam Waterbear DePaul, Storykeeper and Director of Education of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania

Thursday, November 21
6:30 – 8:30 pm

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, you are invited to join the Morris Arboretum & Gardens and Woodmere Art Museum as we welcome Indigenous voices in an evening of storytelling with Chief Adam Waterbear DePaul, storykeeper of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, along with other voices from the Lenape Nation of PA. We will hear stories of Lenape history, language, and culture, and will be treated to drumming and singing by the Stone Dog Drum.

This annual celebration of Lenape culture is a collaboration between Woodmere Art Museum, the Morris Arboretum & Gardens, and the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. The program will take place at the Woodmere Art Museum,
9201 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118.

Members: $20  • Non-members: $25

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Critical Conversations: Native and Invasive Plants with Rebecca McMackin & Mark Weathington (ONLINE)

Rebecca McMackin, Arboretum Curator, Woodlawn Cemetery
Mark Weathington, Director, JC Raulston Arboretum, NC State University
Moderator: Nicole Juday, Author, Garden Writer, and Speaker

Thursday, December 12
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Join us for an evening of engaging and thought-provoking discussion with two leading minds in the field of horticulture today, Rebecca McMackin and Mark Weathington. Rebecca and Mark will engage in a critical conversation about native and invasive plants and the future of our managed and wild landscapes. 

What is a native plant? What plants are truly invasive? How and when do the plants we choose influence the health and/or function of our ecological environments? Can a plant be ‘good’ or ‘bad’, and how does the language we use when describing plants influence the way we think about and interact with them? You are invited to be a part of this dialogue as we work together to shape our understanding and approach to plant selection.  The evening will include a dynamic Q&A session where you will have an opportunity to pose your own questions as we delve deep into these complicated topics, together.

This program has been submitted for 1.5 LA CES and ISA CEUs (choose ‘Professional Rate’ in tiered pricing).  This is an online program; a Zoom link will be emailed to registrants.

Mark Weathington is the Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University where he is passionate in his work to connect plants to people. Mark travels extensively searching for plants to diversify the American landscape. His explorations have taken him to China, Taiwan, Japan, Ecuador, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand, and throughout the US. Mark writes for Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and other national magazines and is the author of Gardening in the South, The Complete Homeowner’s Guide.

Rebecca McMackin is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden designer. She is currently the Arboretum Curator for Woodlawn Cemetery, after completing the Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to this, she spent a decade as Director of Horticulture of Brooklyn Bridge Park, where she managed 85 acres of diverse parkland organically. Rebecca writes, lectures, and teaches on ecological landscape management and pollination ecology, as well as designs the rare public garden. She has been published by and featured in the New York Times, the Landscape Institute, on NPR and PBS, and recently presented a TED talk. 

Nicole Juday is an author, garden writer, and speaker. Her career has encompassed her own garden design business, working as landscape curator at Wyck Historic Garden, and running the renowned Arboretum School at the Barnes Foundation. She then served as director of audience engagement at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. She has published numerous articles, winning a silver medal for her writing by the Garden Writers Association. She serves as board chair for the IDEAL Industries Foundation. She recently published the first-ever coffee table book on Philadelphia’s private gardens, Private Gardens of Philadelphia (March, 2024).

Students / Young professionals /Subsidized Rate: $15
General Admission: $25
Professionals (CEUs available) / Benefactor Rate: $35

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Endowed Lectures

An annual series of lectures held from late fall to early spring that explore a wide variety of fascinating topics. Lectures are supported in part by the Klein Lecture Endowment given in memory of Dr. William M. Klein who served from 1977-1990 as the Arboretum’s first full-time director, the Laura L. Barnes Lecture Endowment of The Philadelphia Foundation, given in memory of Laura Barnes by students and alumni of her school of horticulture, and the Byron Lukens Lecture Endowment, given in memory of educator and Arboretum volunteer, Byron Lukens and his wife Elizabeth.