Arboretum offers free admission in January
Start off the New Year with a visit to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a place for inspiration in all seasons. As an added incentive, the arboretum is offering free gate admission – a $12 value – to all visitors during January.
Get in – or out of – the cold this winter at the arboretum. Stay warm and enjoy a 25-foot tall tree covered with orchids in the Visitor Center Great Hall, sip hot chocolate or try a warm bowl of soup in the arboretum restaurant and check out the sales in the gift store. For outdoors enthusiasts, the arboretum boasts 16 miles of snowshoe or cross-country ski trails, plus snowshoe rentals.
The arboretum is at 3675 Arboretum Drive, Chanhassen.
Looking for a reason or two to visit in January? Consider the following:
Bring the kids for 'Cozy up to a Cactus' during Weekend Family Fun at the Learning Center every Saturday and Sunday afternoon in January. It's free.
Visit the 'Best of the Arboretum' exhibit and sale by Arboretum Photographers Society, Jan. 8-April 14, in restaurant gallery.
Experience the 'Minnesota Magic' art exhibit showcasing watercolors and oils created by Arboretum members, opening Jan. 17 in Reedy Gallery. It runs through March 31.
Enjoy arboretum chowder (and more tasty fare) in the arboretum restaurant.
Shop the arboretum gift store for unique jewelry, home and garden decor and books.
Walk the groomed paths through the perennial and wildflower gardens and seeing nature's handiwork in the intricate bark patterns on birch, coffee trees and more. Enjoy the stark contrasts and dramatic settings – bright red berries, red osier dogwood, vivid conifers against the snowy white backdrop.
Say hi to winter wildlife such as wild turkeys, woodpeckers, tree sparrows, snow buntings, juncos and even a hardy robin or two. Most are visible through the arboretum restaurant windows.
Take a 'Winter Wonders' bus tour on weekends along Three-Mile Drive. Tours are scheduled at noon and 1:30 p.m. Fee: $3.
Knit and stitch with the Arboretum Auxiliary. Spend a winter morning by the fireplace, chatting, knitting or hand-sewing with the designers and crafters of the Arboretum Auxiliary. This event takes place from 10 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, Jan. 8, in Snyder Building's Fireplace Room. All levels of experience from beginners to advanced are welcome. Auxiliary members will share techniques and answer questions. For more information, call 612-625-9865.
Free wi-fi. Bring your laptop and relax in the restaurant … your home away from home.
Visit the Snyder Building's Meyer-Deats Conservatory – filled with orchids, bromeliads and more.
Learn how to raise backyard chickens. On Jan. 11, Tanya Bailey shares everything you need to know about this popular pastime. The class is $40 for members and $55 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.arboretum.umn.edu, or call 952-443-1422.
Free winemaking seminar. Minnesota Grape Growers Assoc. and the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center are hosting a free public seminar on growing grapes and wine production in Minnesota. It's happening from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, in the Snyder Auditorium. For more information and registration, visit online at mngrapegrowers.com/universitity-of-minnesota-research-update.
Bring the kids for Story Time at 10:30 a.m. every Thursday in Andersen Horticultural Library.
Retreat to Andersen Horticultural Library, opening a few gardening books and catalogs and imagine the possibilities for your garden.
Learn how to jump start your garden with grow lights. The class is offered from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 18, or create a 'pop-up' garden of edibles in the afternoon class from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18. Instructor is Tim Kenny and the fee is $38 for members and $50 for nonmembers. For more information, call 952-443-1422, or visit online at www.arboretum.umn.edu/gardeningclasses.aspx.
Sip hot chocolate by the restaurant fireplace and tackle a jigsaw puzzle.
While you're in the library, run your fingers over the handcrafted wood furniture by master furniture-maker George Nakashima and marvel at its beauty.
Visit the Marion Andrus Learning Center and enjoy the kid-friendly exhibits and experience the Green Play Yard in its winter beauty.
Hike Three-Mile Drive to view the new Harrison Sculpture Garden in a snowy setting.
Discover winter serenity in the Arboretum Japanese Garden.
Hone your gardening skills through a 'Science of Gardening' class on the biology of seeds with instructor Jim Calkins from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25. For more information, visit online at www.arboretum.umn.edu/gardeningclasses.aspx, or call 952-443-1422.
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, the largest public garden in the Upper Midwest and a premier northern arboretum, is part of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota and developed as a community and national resource for horticultural and environmental information, research and public education.
For more information, call 952-443-1400.
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