Please note that this program has multiple ticket options:
The trees of Washington, D.C., are rich in botanic diversity and arboreal history—a living legacy built on the horticultural expertise and passion for trees of Founding Fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Local natural historian Melanie Choukas-Bradley, author of City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Washington, D.C. (University of Virginia Press) offers an illustrated overview of many of the city’s notable green spaces and landscaped landmarks, including the White House, Capitol grounds, National Arboretum, and the Tidal Basin, as well as area sites such as Mount Vernon. She discusses the city’s canopy trees and iconic flowering trees, and leads a virtual tour of Rock Creek Park, the nation’s oldest urban national park.
Choukas-Bradley, who in 2014 was awarded one of four inaugural Canopy Awards by Casey Trees for her work in educating the public about the trees of the nation’s capital, signs the third edition of City of Trees, as well as her most recent book A Year in Rock Creek Park: The Wild, Wooded Heart of Washington, D.C.
Program Location: Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr SW, Washington, DC
Capitol Grounds Tour (MAY 26 OPTION)
The Capitol grounds, designed preeminent 19th-century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, have been described as one of the finest arboretums in the world. To complement her lecture, Melanie Choukas-Bradley leads an tour that offers a detailed look at the grand collection that includes magnolias and dogwoods, numerous species of oaks and maples, horse-chestnuts and buckeyes, and many other trees from around the country and the world, all in full spring leaf. See a variety of state trees, memorial trees, Lady Bird Johnson’s kousa dogwood, and an offspring of the tree that grew outside Anne Frank’s window in Amsterdam, which she wrote about in her diary.
Wear sunscreen and a hat and bring water and snacks, or a lunch to enjoy outdoors after the tour.
Tour Location: Participants meet in front of the United States Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC
Photo caption: Western end of the National Mall, in summer
