FONA FIELD NOTES
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PRIOR ISSUES
Christmas Tree Sale this Saturday
Join us this Saturday, December 3rd from 10 AM to 4 PM for our Christmas…
What Are You Doing This Thanksgiving?
We are extremely grateful to all our FONA members! Their stalwart support allows us to…
To show our appreciation for our colleagues at the Arboretum, FONA hosted a BBQ this…
Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands are now available for pre-order! You can pick up your reserved…
Members of the Arboretum’s Germplasm and Gardens Units recently planted an orchard of Magnolia ashei in the…
Dr. Richard T. Olsen, the U.S. National Arboretum’s Director, recently sat down with WUSA9 TV to discuss…
Buy Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands at our Christmas Tree Sale. This event will only…
The National Arboretum sits on land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed along the Anacostia River…
Helia Bravo-Hollis was a prominent botanist from Mexico in the first half of the 20th…
Leaves will soon begin to change color as shorter days and cooler weather herald autumn. SmokyMountains.com,…
FONA was recently awarded a Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program grant in excess of…
Celebrate fall with us at the National Arboretum! We’re collaborating with lots of local partners…
Betty Brown Casey, a DC philanthropist who was the visionary and benefactor behind Casey Trees, passed…
Tickets and tables are selling quickly for our 26th Annual Dinner Under the Stars! Join us…
Our garden team has harvested 2,760 pounds of produce from Washington Youth Garden so far this year! That’s…
Take a walk through plant evolution with Dr. Richard Olsen, Director of the National Arboretum,…
J.C. Raulston not only founded the arboretum at North Carolina State University that now bears…
Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating Washington Youth Garden’s 50th anniversary last…
FONA is thrilled to congratulate Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young on her confirmation as Under Secretary of Agriculture…
Celebrate summer with us at the National Arboretum! We’re collaborating with lots of local partners…
DC9 was officially named over Memorial Day weekend! The American Eagle Foundation held a poll with various…
Washington Youth Garden has been in full swing this spring. Our one-acre demonstration garden on…
Just under a month to go until we celebrate Washington Youth Garden’s 50th anniversary with…
Our annual Garden Fair & Plant Sale is finally here! Here are a few important…
Azalea peak bloom is almost here! We’re expecting the National Arboretum’s Azalea Collections to reach peak…
The National Arboretum has updated its spring traffic plan to make the grounds more accessible…
Dr. Richard T. Olsen, the National Arboretum’s Director, recently spoke with Fox 5 DC about…
Garden Fair & Plant Sale Guide
FONA’s annual Garden Fair & Plant Sale returns Saturday, April 30th! We’ll keep sharing important…
Garden field trips are back! We’re excited to welcome students and teachers back into Washington…
The National Arboretum is implementing a temporary traffic plan to keep the grounds safe for…
Friends of the National Arboretum turns 40 this week! For 4 decades, we have supported…
Celebrate spring with us at the National Arboretum! We’re partnering with lots of local partners…
Mr. President and LOTUS celebrated President’s Day weekend by laying two eggs! While the pair…
“Heirloom seeds survive because of their flavor, [because] of their unique characteristics agronomically. But their…
Edna Lewis was considered the Grande Dame of Southern cooking. Her work as a chef…
The U.S. National Arboretum was recently named a “2022 Best of Weddings” award winner by The…
A pair of beavers have built a lodge and two dams in Springhouse Run. Although…
The R Street entrance will be closed from Tuesday, Jan. 18th through Thursday, Jan. 20th…
Three long-serving staff members retired from the National Arboretum in 2021. We’d like to thank…
Visit the Procrastinator’s Holiday Market on Saturday, December 11th at the National Arboretum. This is held alongside…
Before wreaths adorned doors and walls during the holidays, wreaths were originally hung as ornaments…
This Native American Heritage Month, explore DC’s Indigenous history. The Anacostia River that borders the…
Washington Youth Garden has grown and donated 5,700 pounds of fresh food this year to…
Christmas Trees & Holiday Market
Let us help you have a hassle-free holiday this year. Join us December 11 and…
Our Garden team has grown and donated 5,265 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables this year! This…
Thank you to all who attended our FONA Fall Fest events! We greatly enjoyed sharing…
Bulbs are planted in fall after the weather cools and before the ground freezes. Once…
Apply by October 4th to become FONA’s Director of Foundations and Government Relations. This person will…
The Arboretum is building a new rain garden this fall just inside the R Street…
Only 30% of the streams that flowed through Washington, DC at the beginning of the…
We’ve harvested 3,650 pounds of fresh food from Washington Youth Garden so far this year —…
The Grass Roots Exhibit is getting a new look! There will be construction near the…
Ashley Rattanawan joins FONA’s School Garden Support Program as a School Garden Education Coach. She got…
Richard Evans Schultes was a 20th century biologist who studied medicinal and toxic plants used…
Dig into the principles of forest gardening with Lincoln Smith, founder of Forested. Forest gardens are a…
Our education program team was busy connecting with students virtually this spring. Already in 2021,…
Elke Mackenzie was a botanist and polar explorer who scoured arctic landscapes for lichen during…
Juneteenth Reflection & Celebration
In this week’s FONA Field Notes, we are sharing resources to reflect on Junteenth’s history,…
Starting June 1, 2021, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum is officially open to the…
The frost-tolerant Valencia oranges we know today were created in the early 20th century by…
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Capitol Columns was 35 years ago, on May 13, 1986.…
Washington Youth Garden is turning 50! Since 1971, our garden has served thousands of students…
Join the garden party! From Friday, May 7th to Sunday, May 16th, the American Public Gardens…
Get to the roots of organic lawn care with Mary Travaglini of the Montgomery County Department…
Dr. Harlan Svoboda, curator of the National Arboretum’s Herbarium, reports the team’s progress on a major…
Our Virtual Farm Field Trips make it easy to bring garden science into classrooms. We created 13…
Beginning Friday, April 9, the number of visitors and vehicles allowed on the National Arboretum…
Exciting changes are coming to Washington Youth Garden! As WYG embarks on its 50th anniversary…
Washington Youth Garden is honored to receive the American Horticultural Society’s Jane L. Taylor Award this year…
Thank you to members of the Acorn Garden Club for helping construct nearly 1,000 Grow@Home kits this…
We’re celebrating Women’s History Month! This week we honor the women who have paved the…
Roland M. Jefferson was the first Black botanist and plant explorer at the U.S. Department…
Dr. Marie Clark Taylor was a botanist and teacher whose innovative teaching methods continue to…
Henry Kirklin was a former enslaved person who made waves with his gardening, horticulture, and…
George Washington Carver was a renowned Black agricultural scientist from the first half of the…
Did you know that, despite the pandemic, FONA hosted 12 weddings last year? We have already…
In 2020, FONA shifted its focus to grow and donate fresh produce, coordinate safe outdoor activities, and…
The U.S. National Arboretum has one of the largest and oldest assemblages of cultivars of…
The Gotelli Conifer Collection in the Arboretum’s northeast corner is one of the world’s largest collections of dwarf conifers.Before you…
We’re extremely honored Washington Youth Garden was recognized as one of Washingtonian Magazine’s “20 Worthy Local Charities That Would…
This Giving Tuesday, we are raising money to build new raised beds in our Demonstration…
Happy Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day! We acknowledge the Nacotchtank tribe …
Last week, the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts approved a new design for the National Bonsai & Penjing…