Oak Ridge Today

UT Arboretum Society has spring plant sale in April

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​The ​2016 University of Tennessee Arboretum Society Spring Plant Sale will be held April 15 and 16 on the grounds of the UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge. The 15th is a members-only sale, but you may choose to join the Society on the spot to attend the sale on that date. (Photo courtesy UTIA)

 

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s 50th annual Spring Plant Sale will gather the best of four local nurseries in one location in Oak Ridge in April.

Beaver Creek and Riverdale Nurseries from Knoxville, Sunlight Gardens from Andersonville, and East Fork Nursery from Sevierville will be offering a large and varied selection of shrubs, trees, wildflowers, perennials, annuals, and edibles, a press release said. Brad Greenwood Designs will have unique botanically themed copper garden ornaments and steel features for the home and yard. Dano’s Hot Dogs, with an expanded menu, will again be at this event.

Back by popular demand, the Society will be offering ‘The Rising Sun” Redbud. This new Redbud displays brilliant, golden tangerine and lime-colored, heart-shaped foliage all summer and was a quick sell-out plant last year. The Society will also be offering a limited supply of another new redbud tree: “Alley Cat.” “Alley Cat” was literally discovered in an alley in Kentucky and has beautiful green and white variegated foliage that is stable and scorch-resistant, the press release said. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has morning hike on New Year’s Day

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New-Years-Day-Walk-2015

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society has a morning hike on New Year’s Day. New Year’s Day is Friday, January 1. (Submitted photo)

 

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society has a morning hike on New Year’s Day. New Year’s Day is Friday, January 1.

The hike is for everyone that wants to start 2016 “on the right foot,” a press release said.

The walk will begin at 9 a.m. New Year’s Day at the Arboretum Shelter “where you will be greeted by fellow hikers and offered coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks,” the release said.

The UT Arboretum is located at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Booms heard Wednesday were explosives training for officers at UT Arboretum

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The booms heard in Oak Ridge on Wednesday were from explosives training for law enforcement officers at the University of Tennessee Arboretum on South Illinois Avenue, an official said.

Twenty-nine officers from across the country are training in a 10-week National Forensics Academy course offered by the UT Law Enforcement Innovation Center in Oak Ridge. That course includes crime scene investigation, and one aspect of that training involves investigating car bombs, suicide bombers, and improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, said Don Green, executive director of the Law Enforcement Innovation Center. On Wednesday, an explosives ordinance team from the Knoxville Police Department used explosives to show officers what they would have to go through at that type of scene.

The explosives training session was on Wednesday only. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has annual Owl Prowl on Saturday

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UTAS Owl Prowl

Katie Cottrell, right, and Kathy Strunk are pictured at an earlier Owl Prowl at the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

The Owl Prowl, one of the most popular events offered at the University of Tennessee Arboretum, will again be sponsored by the UT Arboretum Society on Saturday, October 24. It’s at the UT Arboretum, which is at 901 South Illinois Avenue (Highway 62) in Oak Ridge.

Presented by the Clinch River Raptor Center, Kathy Strunk and Katie Cottrell will bring live owls for display and will give information about their natural history, a press release said.

The Raptor Center was started by John Byrd 30 years ago at Clinton Middle School. So far, 2,000 birds have come to the Raptor Center to be rehabilitated. Strunk and Cottrell have shared the responsibility as co-directors of the Raptor Center for more than 25 years, and they have given hundreds of programs in East Tennessee on birds of prey, the press release said. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society presents Moonlight Hike on Sept. 26

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University of Tennessee Arboretum Society Logo

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society is offering a Moonlight Hike on Saturday, September 26. The hike is scheduled from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

“Join us as we walk Arboretum trails by the light of the silvery moon,” a press release said.

The hike will begin at the Visitors Center near the parking lot at 7:30 p.m. The 1.5-mile hike will be led by experienced volunteers.

The full moon is Sunday, September 27. The walk was scheduled a day early so that older schoolchildren could participate on a non-school night. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society presents urban forestry program Aug. 25

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society is sponsoring a lecture on the “Knoxville Urban Forestry Program” on August 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the UT Arboretum’s Program Shelter at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The program will be presented by Kasey Krouse, City of Knoxville urban forester, who will discuss the City of Knoxville Urban Forestry program and its attempt to move from a reactive to a proactive urban forestry program. He will also discuss proper pruning, planting, mulching, tree selection, and other arboriculture practices that are pertinent to an urban forestry program. The presentation will conclude by touring trees around the arboretum and discussing some of the issues they face in an urban forest, a press release said.

As the urban forester for the City of Knoxville, Krouse is responsible for the expansion, protection, and maintenance of the city’s urban forest and implementing the city’s Urban Forest Management Plan. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society presents Geocaching Workshop on July 28

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society is sponsoring an Introduction to Geocaching Workshop for rising fifth- through eighth-grade students on Tuesday, July 28, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UT Arboretum.

The cost is $15 and is payable in advance. Advance registration is required, with a limit of 16 participants.

Students will learn the basics of using a GPS device, determining location, inputting waypoints, following a short course, hiding a cache, and finding caches hidden by others, a press release said. The Arboretum Society will provide the GPS devices for the class to use.

Janet Bigelow, a UTAS board member, will teach this workshop with help from other UTAS members. She is a semi-retired middle school teacher with 41 years of indoor and outdoor classroom experience. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society to present wetlands program on June 16

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will present a program on wetlands on Tuesday, June 16. This is both a walking and hands-on teaching event, a press release said.

The program is titled “Construction Techniques and the Value of Little Bitty Wetlands.” It’s scheduled from 6-8 p.m. June 16.

The talk will focus on the benefits of small wetlands and how to construct them, the press release said.

Participants will meet at the UT Arboretum parking lot at 901 S. Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge and walk about a quarter mile to the Valley Road Wetlands from the UT Arboretum parking lot. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum society to showcase redbud at plant sale on Saturday

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The University of Arboretum Society will celebrate its 50th anniversary by featuring “The Rising Sun™” Redbud at its Annual Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, April 18.

This plant was found and introduced into the trade by Ray and Cindy Jackson of Jackson Nursery in Belvidere, Tennessee. This brand-new Redbud displays heart-shaped foliage of deep apricot-orange in the spring, maturing to yellow and then speckled lime-green in summer, only to return to its rich golden tones for autumn. It has rosy-orchid sweet pea-like blooms in early spring which are attractive to bees and butterflies. It is a vigorous grower reaching eight to 12 feet tall and about eight feet wide, and is cold-hardy to Zone 5. This compact native is ideally suited as a specimen in small yards or gardens.  [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society to have plant sale Saturday, April 18

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UT Arboretum Society Spring Plant Sale 2015

A wide variety of plants, blacksmith demonstration, and food will be featured

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will have its 48th annual Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, April 18. The sale is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The “Members Only” sale will be on Friday evening, April 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. Memberships may be purchased at that time for this “early bird” shopping opportunity. Checks and credit cards will be accepted.

This year, the Arboretum Society will gather the best of four local nurseries in one location. Beaver Creek and Riverdale Nurseries from Knoxville, Sunlight Gardens from Andersonville, and East Fork Nursery from Sevierville will be offering a large and varied selection of shrubs, trees, wildflowers, perennials, annuals, and edibles. [Read more…]

Father-daughter hike at UT Arboretum on Valentine’s Day

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Father Daughter Hike at UT Arboretum

Jeff Holt, pictured above in the green jacket and baseball cap, will lead a Saturday morning hike for fathers and daughters at the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge. (File photo)

 

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Dads: Make a date with your daughter for a Valentine’s Day Hike at the University of Tennessee Arboretum.

Are you looking for an opportunity to spend some father-daughter quality time outdoors? Come out to the UT Arboretum for a fun, short trail hike (one to 1.5 hours) on Valentine’s Day, Saturday February 14.

This is a great winter occasion to get some outdoor exercise with your young or older valentine. Wear clothes appropriate to the weather and boots or good shoes for outdoor walking. Just for fun, wear red! [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has inaugural New Year’s Day Walk

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UT Arboretum Trail Junipers

UT Arboretum trail junipers (Photo courtesy UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center)

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Do you want to get some exercise on New Year’s Day? Come to the University of Tennessee Arboretum for a short hike.

If you are overloaded on football, food, and festivities, the UT Arboretum Society is offering a great alternative: the inaugural New Year’s Day Walk at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]