(RIDGELY, MD – Adkins Arboretum has announced the 2022 lineup for its popular Soup ’n Walk programs. Discover early blooms and wildlife, ephemeral flowers, sure signs of spring, meadow grasses, fall color and autumn nuts and berries. Following a guided walk through the Arboretum’s forest, meadow and wetland communities, enjoy a delicious lunch and a short talk about nutrition. Copies of recipes are provided, and all gift shop purchases on these days receive a 20% discount. This year’s offerings include:
Early Blooms, Songbirds & Spring Frogs
Saturday, March 19, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Listen for songbirds and spring frogs while searching for early purple, pink and white blooms. Plants of interest include skunk cabbage, paw paw, spring beauty and bloodroot. Menu: country bean and red cabbage soup, quinoa-red pepper salad, pumpernickel bread with spinach spread, Black Forest cake with cherries.
Spring Ephemerals & Pollinators
Saturday, April 16, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Look again! The blooms of ephemeral plants, trees and shrubs are here and gone in the blink of an eye. Look for pink, white and yellow blooms and listen for early pollinators. Plants of interest include pink spring beauty, may apple, dogwood, golden groundsel, spicebush, sassafras and white beech. Menu: ginger sweet potato soup, Eastern Shore crunchy coleslaw, wheat flaxseed bread with peach jam, almond cupcake with lemon frosting.
Beavers, Tuckahoe Creek & Beyond
Saturday, May 21, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Observe the beautiful Tuckahoe Creek view while scouting for signs of beavers. Plants of interest include mountain laurel, beech, tulip tree, pink lady’s slipper, Solomon’s seal and may apple. Menu: minestrone, oven-roasted red beets and carrots, brown rice bread with raspberry jam, cinnamon crunch apple cake.
Sunny Meadows
Saturday, September 17, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Walk the meadows in search of golden-brown grasses and yellow and purple flowers while watching and listening for bluebirds and dragonflies. Plants of interest include milkweed, black-eyed Susan, goldenrod, Indian grass, big bluestem and sumac berries. Menu: lentil and greens soup, wild rice berry salad, anadama cornbread with salsa, ginger oatmeal walnut cookies.
Dazzling Fall Color
Saturday, October 15, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Fall colors dazzle the eye and pique the appetite. Listen for migrating birds and woodpeckers while watching for changing color on sweet gum, sassafras, tupelo, sumac, dogwood, paw paw, hickory, beech and tulip trees. Menu: cream of broccoli soup, black-eyed pea salad, dill cottage cheese bread with strawberry jam, old-fashioned pear cobbler.
Autumn Harvest
Saturday, November 19, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Enjoy the autumn harvest as we hunt for nutritious berries, nuts and seeds and check for signs of beaver. Plants of interest include dogwood, hibiscus, partridge berry, oak, loblolly pine, juniper, verbena, ironwood and strawberry bush. Menu: kale and chicken soup, apple date salad, cinnamon raisin bread, baked cranberry apples.
Soup ’n Walk programs are $25 for members and $30 for non-members. Advance registration is required; early registration is recommended. Visit adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0 for more information or to register.
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~ Adkins Arboretum