Bartram's Garden

We're so grateful to receive this $1 million grant from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, presented today by State Representative Regina Young.

"This investment brings us one step closer to breaking ground on the Ecosystems Education Center and creating a place where young people, families, and neighbors can learn directly from the living systems that surround them,” says our Executive Director, Maitreyi Roy. “We are deeply grateful to state Sen. Anthony Williams and Rep. Regina Young for their leadership and belief in this vision. As we move toward construction, this support builds real momentum for a project that will inspire environmental stewardship and serve the Southwest Philadelphia community for generations.”

The grant will support the construction of the new Ecosystems Education Center at Bartram's Garden, which will be the first dedicated education space in the park. Supporting more than 4,000 student visits every year, the new facility will include lab-equipped classrooms, a teaching kitchen, trail-front amenities, and community gathering spaces, all located on previously developed land adjacent to the Bartram's Mile Trail.

More information about the project is available at www.bartramsgarden.org/ecosystems-education

Rep. Regina Young Anthony Hardy Williams

[ID 1: a photo of Rep. Young and Maitreyi in the sunny Meadow, both smiling as they hold a large signed check, in front of a podium that has a sign featuring photos of students in the Garden.
ID 2: Maitreyi at the podium speaking into two mics. Rep. Young stands beside her, looking on with a smile.
ID 3: A photo of Rep. Young and Maitreyi standing on either side of Ms. Phyllis, a neighbor and friend of the Garden who stopped by to listen.
ID 4: A rendering of the Education Center, a one story building with solar paneling on the roof. Students are pictured indoors and outside learning, walking the flower-lined sidewalk and riding bikes on the nearby path]

Our calendar for the second half of August is full of events centered around connecting with nature through healing, gardening and recreation. Visit bartramsgarden.org/calendar to get more info and register!

🎣Free Fishing: Wednesdays & Thursdays,5-7pm (switching to Wednesdays only in September!)

🥕Sankofa Farm Stand: Thursdays & Saturdays, see locations for dates and times

🚣‍♀️Free Boating: Saturdays, 3-7pm (There will be NO BOATING on August 15, 22, and September 5). Boating will switch to 10am-2pm on Saturdays starting September 12

🚲Free Bike Programs: Saturdays and Sundays, 10am-2pm
Kids' Learn to Ride classes are sold out. See calendar for join the waitlist or see the schedule for Free Bike Rentals and Adults' Learn to Ride classes

🐛Little Explorers: What's Buzzing and Blooming?: August 19, 10-11:30am

🌿Flow at Bartram's Garden: Free Yoga: August 20, 6-7:30pm

🌱SWWAG Workshops:
Tending to Our Gardens: August 21, 5-6:30
Harvesting the Healing Power: An Afro-Herbalism Workshop on Elderberries: August 22, 12-2pm
Herbal Infusions for Beauty: August 29, 10am-12pm

🥣Vinegar Master Class with Lady Danni: August 22, 12-2pm

🍃Sankofa Volunteer Day: August 22, 9:30am-12pm

[ID: a slideshow featuring photos or a flyer for each event, along with the name, date, time and details in black and white text with colorful text boxes]

Looks like we're riding another heat wave! ☀️Unfortunately, this means we have to cancel all outdoor activities this weekend—this includes all biking programs and boating tomorrow, Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9.

If you registered for Lady Danni's now sold-out Cyanotype/Anthotype Printing workshop tomorrow from 12-2pm, it's still on, as it's indoors, as is the Opening Reception for "Bartram's Garden: The Seasons" at Studio 34 from 5-7pm.

Stay safe, inside, yall, but if you are planning on being outside tomorrow, the Black Farmer's Market at 52nd & Pine is also still a go!

[ID: "Saturday, August 8 & Sunday, August 9: Boating & Biking canceled due to heat" in large blue and white text against a sunny, green photo of the Garden, with the Bartram's Garden logo superimposed on top]

Due to today's heat index, free fishing has been canceled today, Thursday, August 6.

[ID: "Free Fishing CANCELED: Thursday, August 6" in large white text, centered between the Bartram's Garden logo and a white illustration of small swimming fishes against a solid, blue background]

Come take a walk in the Garden and see all of August's beautiful blooms, using our Bloom Calendar as a guide--you can find it on our website at bartramsgarden.org/bloom-calendar in the Welcome Center!

[ID 1: American Groundnut (Apios americana)
ID 2: Angel's Trumpet (Datura inoxia)
ID 3: Franklinia (Franklinia alatamaha
ID 4: Hardy/Ivy Leaf Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium)
ID 5: Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
ID 6: Scarlet Rose Mallow (Hibiscus coccineus)
ID 7: Snail Bean Vine (Cochliasanthus caracalla)
ID 8: Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata)
ID 9: Water Lily (Nymphae odorata) and Pickerelweed (Pontedaria cordata)]

Due to the forecast, free fishing has been canceled today, Wednesday, August 5.

[ID: "Free Fishing CANCELED: Wednesday, August 5" in large white text, centered between the Bartram's Garden logo and a white illustration of a cat fish against a solid, blue background]

Seeing the amazing achievements of students in our school education program is OWL we want. How beautiful is this illustration by first-grader Messiah from Catharine School?!

The school education program partners closely with K–8 schools in Southwest Philadelphia to welcome students to Bartram's Garden for a free year-round curriculum connected to their classroom lessons.

More visits = more confidence and learning in the natural world, at all ages!

This program is made possible by generous donations and grants. Join the flock today by making a donation at www.bartramsgrden.org/give

[ID: A child's drawing of an owl, skillfully rendered in marker. The brown owl sits below a yellow sun with an especially fierce gaze.]

School District of Philadelphia

Today is our final post before the opening reception of Bartram's Garden: The Seasons this Saturday, August 8, 5-7pm at Studio 34🌹

Purchase your ticket at bartramsgarden.org/calendar

This exhibition features the photographs of Professor Robert G. Smith, taken over years of walks at Bartram's Garden. Some of these gorgeous photographs will be available to purchase as prints at the event, and a portion of proceeds will go to supporting the Garden.

Can't make it this Sunday? No worries—the exhibition will be up at Studio 34 through October. Stop in for a calming yoga session and stay for the beautiful photos!

[ID: a bush of roses, possibly damask roses, creeping onto the arches of the Pavilion, surrounded by other greenery in the Garden]

[Reposted with corrected dates]

Looks like we have another gorgeous weekend ahead!

Welcome Center & Public Restrooms: open 9:30am-4:30pm

☀️SATURDAY, AUGUST 1
9am–1:30pm: Sankofa Farm Stand at the Clark Park Farmer’s Market
10am–12pm: Sankofa Farm Stand at the 14th Annual Youth Growers
Market (Rittenhouse Square)
10am–12pm: Adults’ Learn to Ride
12-2pm: Free Bike Rentals
3-7pm: Free Boating

☀️SUNDAY, AUGUST 2
10am-12pm: Kids’ Learn to Ride (SOLD OUT)
12-2pm: Free Bike Rentals

[ID: the above information in white text against a photo of a child with colorful face paint looking off at the Garden]

Do you hear the plants talking?
They tell us what medicine we really need.
Can you smell their aroma filling the air?
Purifying our lungs with every breath.
Can you attune to their vibration and melt away all worry?
Allowing life to just be.
Can you ground with the Earth beneath their roots? Remembering you are too a child of the same mother.
In every interaction with the Plants there's a love so big that soothes not only my heart but my mind, my body and calls my spirit home. There is no sadness or grief that is not held by the Plants, they transmute all our emotions into renewed energy.
Caring for these Plants needs more than just time and commitment, needs patience to listen, to understand when to harvest, to know when to clean the land and when to feed it.
Whenever I prepare for a community gathering and the feelings of excitement, and also worry to have everything ready feel too overwhelmed to hold it alone I come back to the Plants, they hold me, they calmed me down, they love me just as much as I love them. Tomorrow as we gather for our summer Traditional Healing Circle in community my ancestors remind me that because Summer is when we receive the full power of the sun we also receive the abundance of life across the land and waters, so we give thanks for the growing plants, the blooming medicines and wildlife that circle us with so much vibrancy. In my prayers for our bath tomorrow I'm saying thank you for our unbreakable bond between the elements, the plants, the animals and the humans. And blessings for health, healing and community renewal.
If you feel called to join us and the Plants tomorrow sign up at Bartram's event calendar, link in our bio and stories.
Giving thanks always to the beautiful land that Bartram's Garden is and how incredibly grateful we all should be for having this incredibly sacred Lenape Garden still alive and blooming in the middle of our neighborhood. Thank you for all of the land tenders, gardeners and staff that care for this forest and make it possible for us to gather in community there year after year. Immense love and gratitude to all especially Shanna Mitchel 💜💚