Roland M. Jefferson was the first Black botanist and plant explorer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His horticultural legacy lives on in cherry trees across America, particularly in those found at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC.

A DC native, Jefferson received his botany degree from Howard University in 1950 after serving in WWII. Jefferson joined the team of scientists at the National Arboretum in 1956. He extensively studied American crabapple varietals for over a decade before turning his attention to cherry trees.

Starting in 1973, Jefferson dedicated the rest of his career to studying and preserving flowering cherry tree varietals. He led expeditions around the world to study cherry trees, collect their seeds, and bring cuttings back to the United States. Jefferson even created a dogwood seed exchange program — America received over half a million cherry tree seeds that were collected by Japanese school children, and in turn Japan received American dogwood seeds.

Jefferson also worked with National Park Service to repropagate and save the Tidal Basin cherry trees originally gifted by Japan in 1912. Jefferson's dedication to horticulture not only preserved DC's treasured trees, but also vastly expanded our understanding of flowering cherry and crabapple trees.

The National Arboretum was officially awarded a patent for Tsuga 'Traveler', their new variety of hemlock! This hybrid is resistant to hemlock wooly adelgid, an invasive insect species that has devastated North American hemlock populations. 'Traveler' is the result of decades of Arboretum tree breeding research led by horticulturalist Sue Bentz.

Since 'Traveler' is more difficult to propagate and produce than other Arboretum introductions, this patent ensures the new hemlock hybrid reaches the American public as quickly as possible.

Dwayne Thomas, one of Washington Youth Garden's FoodCorps Service Members, shares what the Garden Science program has been up to this winter.

Washington Youth Garden is presenting at Rooting DC again this year — this time virtually! Rooting DC is a free urban gardening forum that brings together food and gardening organizations from across DC to host workshops for the community.

Join us Friday, Feb. 26th at 6:30 PM for WYG's Wiggly Worm Workshop. During this family-friendly event, we'll go on a worm safari, draw our own worm bin, and adults will learn the basics of how to build their own worm bin to compost at home or school.

Our Washington Youth Garden team compiled this list of 13 local Black-owned farms, gardens, and food justice organizations working in the DMV. You can also see the full guide on Instagram.

Spend this Saturday morning bathed in the ambience of the National Arboretum. Watch fog roll across hills, listen to morning mist fall on magnolia leaves, and smell the first hint of late winter's apricot and pear blossoms on the wind.

Join us Saturday, February 27th from 9 - 11 AM for a forest bathing experience.

For those following the nest drama, the plot thickens for which female bald eagle will reside in the nest this year.

The female eagle who occupied the nest in previous years has not been spotted either at the nest or around the Arboretum in over a week. It seems the Arboretum will have a new power couple in the canopy this spring.