Summer Rain

Visitor Services Coordinator Robyn Affron jotted down her thoughts about a welcome rainy day on Saturday, July 21.

A rainy July day at Adkins Arboretum is a refreshing treat from the summer heat. Even the frogs were singing their joy for the misty rain, and the birds were chirping as well. Adkins is a wonderful spot to see indigo buntings, bluebirds, and the hummingbirds busy at the hummingbird feeders.

Visitors enjoyed the day walking the paths with the canopy as their umbrella, and a family rode their bikes around the meadow. Some visitors took advantage of the light to snap some beautiful photographs.

I took advantage of the rainy day as well. Rainy weather is always my favorite time to shop for plants, and since I was at the Native Plant Nursery for a brief work meeting, I just couldn't resist picking up a flat of native perennials to plant in my garden.

by Robyn Affron

Visitor Services Coordinator

Certified Professional Horticulturist

Waterworks

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a...transpiration bag?!

This summer, campers enrolled in the Arboretum's Wilderness Survival Camp learned how to gather clean drinking water by bundling leaves and branches into a clear plastic bag. When the sun warms the leaves inside a transpiration bag, water is released in the form of vapor. The water condenses on the sides of the plastic and then gathers at the lowest point of the bag, which is weighted with a rock. Transpiration bags can collect anywhere from a cup to a pint of potable water each day.

Wilderness Survival campers also learned how to build a fire, create waterproof shelters, forage for wild edibles, and use lashing techniques to construct rafts. This last experience resulted in newfound knowledge: yes, there are leeches in the Tuckahoe.

Despite the leeches, all twelve campers and camp director Jenny Houghton not only survived Wilderness Survival Camp but had a great time doing so.