MNPS Field Trip: Orchid, art and the tree that started it all (SAT)

AN EASTERN SHORE CHAPTER EVENT.

Leaders: Leslie Cario and Cristina Niciporciukas

Location: Adkins Arboretum

Kick off your day at Adkins Arboretum with a fast, vibrant walk through the North Meadow, an early succession landscape alive with shifting light, grasses, and emerging wildflowers. We will look for the Nodding Ladies’-tresses—one of six native orchids at Adkins and a newly reported addition to the Adkins flora. Also, a grove of the Over cup Oak, the oak species that helped spark the Arboretum’s founding vision.  Along the way, we will explore two of Adkins’ newest spaces: the Nestled in Nature gathering spot, designed by Campion Hruby Landscape Architects with artistic contributions from ceramicist Mike Pugh and craftsman Peter Battcock, and Woodhenge, a developing public art installation by Vicco von Voss. Crafted from six slabs of a lightning struck tree, Woodhenge blends art, nature, and community—symbolizing resilience, transformation, and the cycles of life.

Plants we will try to spot: Spiranthes cernua, Over Cup oak, Bald cypress, Green ash, Oaks of the Coastal Plains, Bluestem, Blue curls, Sweet everlasting.

And after the walk… stick around! Join Rhythm & Roots, Adkins’ afternoon beer fest—good music, good brews, and the perfect way to round out a day of orchids, oaks, and art.  Come for the meadow magic—stay for the rhythm and roots.  Rhythm & Roots goes from 1 to 4pm, so you can start partying as soon as you finish the walk.

Leader's brief bios:  Leslie Cario is the Horticulture and Natural Lands Director at Adkins Arboretum. Cristina Niciporciukas is the Eastern Shore MNPS Chapter Chair.

For additional information: Please reach out to Cristina Niciporciukas at cnicipo71@outlook.com or 973-216-5216

FREE EVENT

ONLINE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.   Limited to 12 people. 

Bring: Please bring hat, water and snacks. Use insect/tick repellant.  We will mostly follow well maintained paths but even those can have ticks.