Summer Brown Bag lectures focus on birds, music, gardening, more

The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum is offering a Summer Brown Bag Lecture series on Wednesday May – July at James Madison University in Harrisonburg.

The lecture series starts at noon and is free to attend.

Bring your lunch and enjoy a new guest speaker each week.

The series includes:

• May 24: Music and Birdsong with pianist Anna Showalter, Pavilion at Edith J. Carrier Arboretum. Join Showalter for a musician’s exploration of birdsong. Learn about how musicians have been inspired by birdsong for centuries and have represented birdsong in their music according to the technologies, styles and world views prevalent in their time.
• June 7: Welcome Back Bluebirds with Gail Fisher, Frances Plecker Education Center. The North American Bluebird Society’s Fisher will explore why we care about bluebirds, a brief history of their decline and resurgence, some bluebird biology, predators and competitors, and ways you can help.
• June 14: Gardening with Native Plants with Anna Maria Johnson, Frances Plecker Education Center. Johnson is part of the Headwaters Master Naturalists and the Shenandoah Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society. She will be discussing ways you can use native plants in your home garden to help promote health ecology that benefits wildlife and people.
• June 21: Waterwise Gardening with Mary Godinez of Cross Keys Farm, Frances Plecker Education Center. Gardens need water to survive, but water is increasingly a dwindling resource. Learn how to have a beautiful garden while saving and preserving this precious commodity.
• June 28: The Importance of Pollinators for Biodiversity with JMU Professor of Geography Amy Goodall, Frances Plecker Education Center. Through presentation and active learning, this talk emphasizes the importance of pollinators for ecosystem health and how pollinators can serve as teachers of biodiversity.
• July 19: A Presentation on Bonsai Trees by Clark Driver, Frances Plecker Education Center. Driver will be presenting an introduction overview on the art of bonsai and container grown trees. Clark will also provide a brief overview of the origins of the artform, fundamentals of bonsai display, and how bonsai can help connect you to your natural environment.

Info: (540) 568-3194 or www.jmu.edu/arboretum