Photos by Cheryl Landes

The Arboretum is a 400-acre green space adjacent to the main University of Guelph (pronounced “Gwelf”*) campus with gardens, woods, wetlands, and meadows. Nature trails wind through these habitats for exploration and enjoyment.

 

When I visited The Arboretum, the lilacs were in full bloom. The fragrance filled the air.

 

 

The Arboretum is well-known for its woody plant collections. More than 2,000 taxa thrive in thematic collections such as the World of Trees and Native Trees of Ontario.

The Arboretum also archives rare and at-risk woody plants and shrubs of the province to assure their survival. They’re also breeding a genetically diverse, Ontario-sourced American Elm tolerant of Dutch Elm Disease as part of an Elm Recovery Project.

In addition, The Arboretum is a living laboratory where classes for undergraduate students and workshops provide education on the natural world. Workshops include tree identification, astronomy, animal tracking, and painting watercolors of nature.

Guelph is 59 miles (95 kilometers) west of Toronto.

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Background on the pronunciation of “Guelph” from the University of Guelph’s Ask Gryph page:

“The city of Guelph was named in 1827 to honour the royal family of King George IV, whose family name was Gwelf. The spelling has been altered over time to today’s “Guelph” – but it’s pronounced just as it was 187 years ago: gwelf (rhymes with self).”