Workshops & Events
Saturday Speaker Series
Year after year, expert speakers in our popular Saturday Series draw an audience from far and near. Participants leave with knowledge they can use in their gardens, yards, and homes. Some events include demonstrations. The Hamilton College campus is an accredited arboretum; please consider exploring if you attend one of our events.
All events in this series take place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays. They are free and open to the public.
Join us! Hamilton College Taylor Science Center Kennedy Auditorium
Campus Map #44 (parking next to Scott Field House off of Loop Road, Map #72)
Or participate via Zoom by registering below.
Register for Zoom
2024-25 Events
A Tyranny of Peonies, The Life of A.P. Saunders with Lois Girton, Ph.D.
April 26, 2025
10:00 a.m.
A. Percy Saunders, Professor of Chemistry (1900-1939) and Dean (1909-1926) of Hamilton College, is also beloved by the peony community for the many wonderful plants he hybridized. He assembled the most extensive collection of peony species able to grow in upstate New York. Then, drawing on his prior experiences in plant breeding, he made every possible cross between these species over almost 50 years. The results were astounding - new colors and forms in both herbaceous and woody peonies, as well as an extension of the peony bloom season to nearly seven weeks. Even today, most new peony introductions trace some of their parentage back to a Saunders peony. Join Lois Girton, eminent peony expert and president of the American Peony Society, for this enlightening talk. Lois' new book will be available for purchase at the talk.
Thank you for supporting the Hamilton College Arboretum with your dollars and participation. Save the dates as we look forward to another great year of talks in 2025-26 (schedule subject to change, please check the website for updated information).
Fall 2025 – Spring 2026
September 27, 2025 Plant Health Care: The Most Recent in Pruning, Planting, and Mulching with Fred Breglia from Landis Arboretum
November 1, 2025 Loosen Up Your Landscape: Melding the Wild and the Tamed with Native Plants with Christine Froehlich
November 15, 2025 [ZOOM Only] Heirloom Gardening with Traditional Plants and Skills for a Changing World with John Forti
February 7, 2026 The Wood Wide Web with Tom Horton
March 7, 2026 Mohawk Valley Wild Ones
April 11 , 2026 Observing Changes in Frog Behavior with Ariel Kahrl, Hamilton College Assistant Professor of Biology
Contact
Arboretum
