Troy Bynum, Whitemarsh Foundation  

Join us for a morning exploring the birds at the Dixon Meadow Preserve. Covering 14 acres of land, the Dixon Meadow Preserve includes a boardwalk measuring nearly two-thirds of a mile. The preserve is a haven for birders, walkers and those who enjoy the area’s natural flora and fauna. Each of these three walks will highlight different birds as the meadow’s residents shift in each season! 

An accomplished wildlife photographer, Troy’s work has been published by notable national and  regional publications.  Troy is also an avid birder and experienced guide, and volunteers as Field Trip Chair for Liberty Bird Alliance where he coordinates and often leads domestic and international birding trips for the members.

Meet at the Dixon Meadow Preserve, 548 Flourtown Rd, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444. Bring your binoculars.  Please wear good walking shoes and dress for the weather.

Saturdays: April 11, June 13, September 5;  choose one date or join us for all three!

Only one date remains!  Join us in late summer!

Saturday September 5
8:00 – 9:30 am  

Members: $25 / Non-members: $30

Emily Tipps, Binding Instructor, Program Manager, and Librarian at the Book Arts Program at the University of Utah

All paper is made from cellulose, the primary structural component in the cell walls of plants. This essential connection means it is possible to make paper from the plants growing all around us. Making paper from foraged materials can yield beautiful, interesting, and surprising results. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of hand papermaking, creating sheets from locally-grown materials. The session will include a walk around the Morris to observe a variety of plants utilized in papermaking and other paper-related crafts such as surface dyeing. Attendees will go home with a small stack of handmade sheets whose unique character reflects the botanical environment.  

Emily Tipps teaches at the University of Utah’s Book Arts Program in Salt Lake City. Her creative interest in the whole book (from initial concept to final binding) includes papermaking pedagogy and making paper from locally-foraged common plants of native, invasive, and garden varieties. 

Friday, September 25
12:30-3:00pm

Members: $30 | Non-members: $35

Al Paris, Professional Chef/Restaurateur

These demonstration classes will cover the creation of a meal focused on products from Erdenheim Farm. Each class will include a discussion about how the food is raised or grown on the farm, followed by a cooking demonstration by Chef Al Paris, and finish with a chance to eat and savor the creation. Chef Al Paris has owned and created the culture and cuisine of 13 award-winning restaurants—most recently Paris Bistro in Chestnut Hill. He believes that all cooks can create their own distinct cuisine through the clarity of their vision and the use of the freshest seasonal ingredients.

The class meets at the Sheep Barn parking lot at Erdenheim Farm (5051 Flourtown Road, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444).

A different seasonal menu is offered, and typically changes monthly. Please sign up for each session separately.   Registration and menus located below.

The class will begin with toasted garlic sourdough bread and a mixed green salad with goat cheese and tomato. Chef will then prepare a roast leg of Erdenheim lamb with a date and honey glaze accompanied by a Swiss chard, onion, and corn succotash. For dessert: a farm egg marsala zabaglione with mixed summer berries over crushed cookies.

The meal features Erdenheim Farm lamb, tomatoes, honey, mixed greens, onions, and eggs.

Saturday, August 29
12:00 – 3:00 pm

Members: $120 | Non-members: $130

The class will start with bacon and onion ciabatta served with farm greens and vinaigrette. Chef will then prepare Salisbury steaks of ground Erdenheim beef with a blue cheese and tomato gravy, accompanied by farm chard and corn cakes. For dessert: a honey cake with thyme, apples, and lemon yogurt.

The meal features Erdenheim Farm beef, tomatoes, honey, chard, apples, mixed greens, and eggs.

Saturday, September 12
12:00 – 3:00 pm

Members: $110 | Non-members: $120

The class will begin with farm pumpkin cornbread served with honey balsamic greens. Chef will then prepare a buttered mustard roast Erdenheim lamb sausage and white bean chard stew. For dessert we will make a ricotta and roast fig tart with lemon syrup.

The meal features Erdenheim Farm lamb sausage, tomatoes, honey, chard, microgreens, and eggs.

Saturday, October 17
12:00 – 3:00 pm

Members: $120 | Non-members: $130

Creole Handpies in Pastry
The class will start with focaccia buns incorporating squash, roast onion, and rosemary, served with roast strawberry vinaigrette and mixed greens. Chef will then prepare natchitoches (creole meat pies en croûte) featuring Erdenheim beef, as well as raisins, capers, and sauteed chard. For dessert, Chef will serve molasses crumb cupcakes with sweet cream.

The meal features Erdenheim Farm beef, honey, chard, onions, squash, microgreens, and eggs.

Saturday, November 14
12:00 – 3:00 pm

Members: $110 |  Non-members: $120

The class will start with whole-grain porter buns served with wilted greens and cultured butter. Chef will then prepare a pan-seared Erdenheim Angus ribeye with a honey red wine glaze and caramelized root vegetables. And for dessert, a warm roast pumpkin custard pie with maple whipped cream.

The meal features Erdenheim Farm ribeye steak, pumpkin, honey, chard, microgreens and eggs.

Saturday, December 12
12:00 – 3:00 pm

Members: $125 | Non-members: $135

Growing Minds at Morris Arboretum & Gardens is a program series for kids and families that inspires a sense of wonder about the natural world within the beautiful setting of the Morris. The classes represented in this section offer children and their caregivers the opportunity to connect meaningfully with nature through a wide variety of creative and educational programs.

 Parents and caregivers are asked to stay with children for classes.

Beatrice Daudelin, Adult Education Apprentice, Morris Arboretum & Gardens
Molly Baraldi, Youth and Visitor Education Apprentice, Morris Arboretum & Gardens

Let your imagination run wild as we create whimsical fairy houses together! We will use a combination of found natural materials, clay, and other special bits and bobs in this magical, hands-on experience for all ages. We will start indoors and use tools to construct our bases and create some one-of-a-kind accessories for our fairies. From there, you are free to join us in bringing your creations down to the enchanting Whimsical Woods and continuing to decorate with found natural materials! 

One registration covers one adult and one child. Additional children will require additional registrations.

Saturday, October 3
10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Members: $35 | Non-members: $40

Maura Manzo, Yoga and Meditation Teacher 
  
Join experienced yoga instructor Maura Manzo for this one-of-a-kind yoga experience on the Out on a Limb exhibit at Morris, suspended 50 feet above ground and surrounded by a canopy of trees, colors, sights and sounds.  
 
This unique practice will be tailored to all skill levels and focuses on poses that promote rootedness, connection, and mindfulness. Human beings are deeply connected to trees and have much to learn from them. Class will end with an extended guided relaxation inspired by one of the greatest teachings of trees: There is beauty that comes from letting go. 
  
This treetop yoga experience is a wonderful way to combine the physical and mental benefits of yoga with the beauty and serenity of the natural world. You are invited to come early to class and explore the walking trails and gardens within the Morris as part of your experience. One Thursday evening scheduled each month.  Pricing is per session.  Register for each session separately.

  Pricing is per session; Register below. 

Maura Manzo, Yoga and Meditation Teacher 

Thursday, August 27
5:15 – 6:30 pm 

Members: $35 / Non-members: $40 

Meghan Dwyer, Yoga Teacher 

Join Meghan Dwyer this evening 'under the new moon' to close out the series of gentle, all-levels yoga class on the beautiful grounds of the Morris. In tune with the new moon and the changing astrological season, we’ll move slowly, breathe deeply, and connect with nature’s quiet invitation to begin again. 

As in the earlier sessions, this practice also blends mindful movement, breath, and reflection to help you set heartfelt intentions for the lunar cycle ahead and further deepen your connection to the earth, the season, and your own inner rhythms, supporting intention-setting and gentle renewal.

Please bring your own mat.   

Tuesday, August 11 
5:15 – 6:30 pm  
 
Members: $30 / Non-members: $35 

Samantha Nestory, Engagement Manager and Naturalist, Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden 

Most people are familiar with the innumerable benefits of living trees. But even after their death, trees provide vital habitat, shelter, and food for wildlife. Join us as we learn how dead and dying trees still teem with life, from tiny termites to fantastic flying squirrels and everything in between! 

This program will begin with a lecture and discussion and then move outside to look at snags in the landscape, and the way Stoneleigh has worked to incorporate dead wood into their landscape projects and native plantings. 

This program will take place at Stoneleigh, a former private estate located in Villanova that is now one of the newest public gardens in the Philadelphia region. Its extraordinary trees, sweeping vistas, and intimate garden spaces reflect more than a century of loving care by three different families. In its new role, Stoneleigh is an intriguing blend of historical landscapes overlayed with beautiful new gardens designed to support and nurture our local ecology. Stoneleigh’s Engagement Manager Samantha Nestory holds ecology and entomology degrees from the University of Delaware and is passionate about ecological gardening, native plants, and insect conservation. 

This program has been submitted to carry 2 CEUs from ISA, LA CES, and the New Jersey Board of Tree Experts and is an approved elective in the Certificate in Ecological Horticulture program. 

Wednesday, October 7 
10:30 am – 12:30 pm 

Members: $30 | Non-members: $35

ELECTIVE

Thomas Mrazik, Horticulturist and Owner of Goodly Gardens, Worcester PA 

Enjoy an interactive autumn visit to an award-winning home garden, highlighting a naturalistic, meadow style design with mostly ornamental grasses and wildflowers. 

In fall, a meadow-style garden becomes austere, absent of vibrant petal colors and growth. Such a garden is stripped down to its essential components of maturing, dying and dead plants. Leaves lose their primary color and have fallen. Petals disappear. Plant stems shift and tilt. Colors become blended with tan, brown or black. 

Yet, there is good news at this time. A late season naturalistic-style garden reveals uniquely beautiful ornaments, exposing stark, strong forms, interesting seed heads, soft colors, and various airy forms. They all create swaths of impressions, hazy silhouettes, and sentinel skeletons, unavoidably inviting a curious gardener’s eye and discovery! Thom has curated this garden to have four-season interest over the course of many years. Come enjoy the skeletons and silhouettes and leave full of inspiration for your own winter landscapes! 

This course has been submitted for 1.5 LA CES Landscape Architects. This class does NOT carry CEUs for arborists. It is an approved elective in the Certificate in Ecological Horticulture program. 

Saturday, November 14 
2:00 – 3:30 pm 

Members: $30 | Non-members: $35
  

Please visit our Trips  page to register for this course.

Troy Bynum, Whitemarsh Foundation  

Join us for a morning exploring the birds at the Dixon Meadow Preserve. Covering 14 acres of land, the Dixon Meadow Preserve includes a boardwalk measuring nearly two-thirds of a mile. The preserve is a haven for birders, walkers and those who enjoy the area’s natural flora and fauna. Each of these three walks will highlight different birds as the meadow’s residents shift in each season! 

An accomplished wildlife photographer, Troy’s work has been published by notable national and  regional publications.  Troy is also an avid birder and experienced guide, and volunteers as Field Trip Chair for Liberty Bird Alliance where he coordinates and often leads domestic and international birding trips for the members.

Meet at the Dixon Meadow Preserve, 548 Flourtown Rd, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444. Bring your binoculars.  Please wear good walking shoes and dress for the weather. Choose one date or join us for all three! Register for each session separately. Pricing is per session. 

Saturdays: April 11, June 13, September 5 
8:00 – 9:30 am  

Members: $25 / Non-members: $30

Please go to our Birding section to register for this course

Thomas Mrazik, Horticulturist and Owner of Goodly Gardens, Worcester PA

Enjoy an interactive autumn visit to an award-winning home garden, highlighting a naturalistic, meadow-style design with mostly ornamental grasses and wildflowers. In fall, a meadow-style garden becomes austere, absent of vibrant petal colors and growth. Such a garden is stripped down to its essential components of maturing, dying and dead plants. Leaves lose their primary color and have fallen. Petals disappear. Plant stems shift and tilt. Colors become blended with tan, brown or black.

Yet there is good news at this time - a late season naturalistic-style garden reveals uniquely beautiful ornaments, exposing stark, strong forms, interesting seed heads, soft colors, and various airy forms. They all create swaths of impressions, hazy silhouettes, and sentinel skeletons, unavoidably inviting a curious gardener’s eye and discovery!

Thom has curated this garden to have four-season interest over the course of many years. Come enjoy the skeletons and silhouettes and leave full of inspiration for your own winter landscapes!

This course has been submitted for 1.5 LA CES CEUs, and is an approved elective in the Certificate in Ecological Horticulture program.

Saturday, November 14
2:00 – 3:30 pm

Members: $30 | Non-members: $35