A Botany Year at Boston Nature Center

Plants are all around us—but most of us have just scratched the surface on all that they can tell us. This year-long monthly series at Boston Nature Center is designed to change that, one session at a time.

Over 12 Saturdays, a skilled naturalist guides you through the full botanical calendar: from milkweed anatomy and fall seeds to tree bark, spring ephemerals, wild edibles, and medicinal plants.

Each session begins indoors before heading outside for at least 90 minutes of fieldwork on the sanctuary's trails, building real observation skills alongside a community of fellow plant enthusiasts. By the end of the year, you'll have the knowledge and field practice to look at a landscape—and see it in an entirely new way.

September: Botany Observation Drawing and Plant Anatomy — Milkweed

October: Fall Seeds and Seed Dispersal

November: Autumn Leaves

December: Tree Medicine

January: Tree Botany Part 1: Buds and Twig ID

February: Tree Botany Part 2: Bark

March: Maple Sugaring and Plant Structure

April: Spring Ephemerals

May: Wild Edible Plants

June: Plant and Human Relationships

July: Medicinal Plants

August: Plants and Climate Change