Autumn at the Arboretum Oct. 13 at Klehm

Autumn at the Arboretum Oct. 13 at Klehm

By Peggy Werner

Now in its 30 th year, Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden will once again usher in the fall season with an annual community event, Autumn at the Arboretum, giving visitors the chance to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the season, while connecting with nature and neighbors.

In celebration of everything fall, this year’s event, made possible by the Dean Alan Olson Foundation, will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 at the Fountain Garden and nearby lawn areas at the arboretum, 2715 S. Main St.

Horse-drawn buggy rides, scarecrow making and face painting activities will return and there’ll be a new maze made of straw bales to challenge young kids. Adults can watch the children work their way through the obstacles. Game and activity stations will be set up throughout the grounds and both Pickles the Clown and Magician Brian Holt will entertain crowds.

“The season itself is the highlight of the event with the changing colors and just being outside with family and friends,” says Executive Director Alex Mills.

As people walk the paths, they’ll see seasonal signs like acorns and nuts on the ground, busy squirrels and brilliantly colored mums, bright red berries, neoncolored asters and ornamental grasses at their peak.

New this year is a first annual bulb sale that will take place in the Garden Pavilion and will feature specialty varieties of tulips and daffodils. Profits will support Klehm programming.

Mills says the bulbs will provide people with something unique to plant in their own gardens. Samantha Burbach, education and programming coordinator, led the process of selecting about 19 specialty varieties of tulips and daffodils.

“We hope that local gardeners will enjoy picking out unique bulbs to add to their gardens and we anticipate the sale will include more varieties each year as interest increases,” she says.

Bulbs for sale will include parrot tulips, which have feathered edges and come in shades of deep purple, pink and apricot, and peony tulips, which have double flowers. The daffodil varieties are also unique, some having white petals with pink, yellow or peach centers, and others having double yellow blooms.

The bulbs can be planted from the time of the sale until the ground freezes and will come with detailed instructions. Some will bloom very early in the spring and others will bloom later, so people can look forward to an extended season of color, says Burbach.

Visitors will notice some changes at Klehm.

Last Arbor Day, volunteers planted 16 trees along paths. Each was chosen with fall color in mind, like the Black Tupelo, a native tree that can produce shades of yellow, orange, red or purple foliage, sometimes all on the same branch, and Early Glow Buckeye, which produces intense red fall color.

A Lilac Garden made possible by longtime supporter Ethel Johnson will be dedicated Oct. 12 at a members-only anniversary event. The garden is near the Clarcor Pavilion and will eventually contain about two dozen varieties of lilac

bushes and trees, including dwarf varieties and ones that blooms throughout the spring and summer. Some planting of the garden will be done this fall, but most of the work will be completed in the spring, Mills says.

“Ethel had the idea for this garden for a long time and her contributions to Klehm have made it possible. She has been involved with the arboretum since its conception and has always wanted to see lilacs on these grounds. This is a good way to put on display one of her favorite flowering shrubs. The garden is intended to be a showcase throughout the entire growing season.”

In his second year as director of Klehm, Mills’ goal is to make Klehm more accessible to people of all ages throughout the year.

“We’re here for everyone and there is always some beautiful aspect of nature to see and appreciate each and every day.” ❚