Beginner Botany is our first Buds & Blooms program. From the air we breathe to the clothes we wear, our relationship with plants far exceeds consumption. Let’s investigate the many ways we interact with our botanical buddies while exploring the McLane Center's Pollinator Garden. We'll learn how it is that plants create their own food […]

This session has been rescheduled from its original date of July 16 to the new date of August 18, 2022. Entomophilous. Entemo-what? Derived from the Greek word “éntomon,” meaning insect, entomophilous pollination refers to plants that require insects for their pollination needs. Let's wander around the McLane Center's gardens as we search for our fluttery, […]

Discover the unique and specialized native insects that play a critical role in both ecosystems and agriculture. They may be small, but they are mighty, and they come in more patterns than stripes alone! Let’s peruse the garden in search of the diverse array of invertebrates frequenting our native flowers and see how many we […]

How can one, with paper wings, withstand the challenges of a 3,000-mile journey? At this time of year, it’s not just the birds preparing to migrate south! The monarch butterflies here in NH are about to flutter their way down to the forests of northern Mexico. Let’s imagine we are monarch butterflies as we discover […]

In this final installment of the Buds & Blooms Program, we switch to lecture format as we emphasize the various methods we can implement in our yards and gardens to ensure our native pollinators experience a successful winter rest.  Topics covered will include fun facts about overwintering species, mason bee box care (you can't just […]