Maples Make Autumn Magnificent at Arboretum

BOSTON--Over the next few weeks, the canopy covering Harvard Yard will fade faithfully into its fall shades.

It will be impressive, but at a Harvard-affiliate just across town the canopy will be even more impressive.

At the Arnold Arboretum in Boston's Jamacia Plain neighborhood, autumn means 130 different kinds of maples, and almost as many different colors.

The changing colors draw people to the Arboretum all fall.

"It's a nice way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and have a nice walk outdoors," said Ellen S. Bennett, the arboretum's manager of horticultural information.

The Arboretum, which is held in trust by the University and funded by its own endowment, is a research and educational institution that manages 265 acres of trees, shrubs and vines. Founded in 1872, the arboretum was planned as a part of Boston's Emerald Necklace park system. It collects trees and plants from around the world for education and display.

More than 5000 kinds of plants are cultivated in the collections, with more than 15,000 individual plants, making it the largest and best documented woody plant collection in North America. Special collections include lilacs and bonsai.

"It's a great place to just come and clear your mind and relax and learn more about plants and the outdoors," Bennett said.

Though the park is open to the public 365 days a year from dawn to dusk, the urban forests' visitor's center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 4 p.m. on weekends. The Arboretum is located one block northeast from the Forest Hills end of the orange line. But leave lunch at home--picnics, fires and barbecues are prohibited.

The Arboretum offers guided tours of the grounds, as well as lectures and courses on horticulture.

The Arboretum is a popular destination for both tourists and Boston locals. Reggie W. Price described the landscape as "romantic, beautiful and exotic."

Some visitors said colorful plants and trees are more sparse at this time of the year.

"Spring is better, but it's always nice," said Jennifer A. Love.

But Kim R. Wright said early October's crisp weather makes for a great visit to the park.

"When I come here, I like to read--it's nice and quiet and peaceful," said Wright. "It's a good time of year to be over here."

Unlike city recreational parks, the Arboretum is quite and peaceful, with ample sitting areas and quite refuges. While winter will bring the beauty of snow-graced tree branches, autumn offers comfortable weather and colorful trees and plants.

Tourists Paul W. and Alice E. Wood visited the Arboretum last weekend.

"I love the variety of the trees; some don't grow in Southern climates," Paul W. Wood said.

Within the past 20 years, Arboretum staff has joined in expeditions to the Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Europe, North Africa and regions of North America in search of plants for the Arboretum's collections. However, the staff concentrates mostly on collecting plants from the Boston region. Many of the accessions are the original plant introductions into North America from eastern Asia. All plants and trees are labeled.

The Arboretum also manages the University's Herbaria at 22 Divinity Ave. with about 1,268,000 specimens and a botanical library of 95,000 volumes and archival and photographic collections, which are research facilities not open to the public.

Due to expanded planning, rising economic and political costs of land use conflicts, and shifting responsibility for land use decisions in landscape management, the Arboretum established the Institute for Cultural Landscape Studies last fall. The Institute supports management of landscapes with a history of human use by integrating research and experience from historic preservation, natural areas conservation and land use planning. It is currently working on historic plant inventories, farmland conservation in New England, managing park-neighborhood relations in urban areas and public-private partnerships for cultural landscapes.

Also in the visitor's center, is the permanent exhibit, "Science in the Pleasure Ground," which details the history behind the development of the Arboretum.

Members of the Friends of the Arnold Arboretum receive free admission at more than 100 botanical gardens nationwide, discounts on courses, lectures, workshops and Arboretum bookstores purchases and a subscription to the arboretum's quarterly magazine, Arnoldia. Student memberships are available for $20, while others can purchase memberships staring at $35.