Thank you to members of the Acorn Garden Club for helping construct nearly 1,000 Grow@Home kits this winter!

We are incredibly grateful for the time these members took building these kits. Last fall we donated over 2,100 kits to students and teachers around DC — this year we're planning on donating even more! The kits the Acorn Garden Club put together go a long way to helping us reach our goal. Thank you!

These Grow@Home kits are distributed to teachers and students across DC to teach garden science at home. Students learn about the scientific method, run their own experiments, and can create nutritious meals from what they grow.

Want to sign your class up to receive Grow@Home kits? Sign up for School Garden Gateway, our new quarterly teacher newsletter, to receive the registration form.

On February 22, 2021 we met our first milestone: the very first specimen image was captured! A humble cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) specimen, assigned as the USDA’s first Plant Introduction (PI #1) from 1898, had the honor of kicking things off. We are now well on our way with more than 45,000 images to date. Stay tuned for more updates as the digitization project progresses!

As spring arrives at the National Arboretum, please mind some garden rules and guidelines during your visit. While the National Arboretum is a public garden, it is also a horticultural research facility and there are critical research projects happening throughout the grounds.

In addition to wearing your mask and socially distancing, check out the other do's and don'ts of visiting the Arboretum.

Today's the last day to sign up for the National Arboretum's 34th Annual Lahr Symposium this Saturday, March 20th from 9:30 AM to 3 PM. This daylong program brings subject matter experts on ecological, botanical, and horticultural advancements in a virtual format. Tickets are $75 ($60 for FONA members).

Apricots have arrived and magnolias are just beginning to make an appearance. Bathe in the ambience of the Arboretum and join FONA for one of our Forest Bathing walks this weekend:

Tickets are $35 ($28 for FONA members). We've even got a special raffle just for our March forest bathing participants!

Although the Lahr and Garden Fair plant sales are both cancelled this year, there are still ways to support the vendors we would have hosted.

Habeebah's Herbals has been in business for over 25 years. They formulate and sell natural & organic skin care products and ECO Soy Candles. You can find their products online or at Eastern Market.

Join the U.S. Botanic Garden this Friday, March 19th at 12 PM for a free and engaging discussion with horticulturalist Peggy Riccio about how you can grow and use culinary herbs. Peggy is president of the Herb Society of America's Potomac Unit, another Arboretum stakeholder.

Discover the best season to plant specific herbs as well as how to harvest, preserve, and use them in your kitchen. Pre-registration is required.