Hamilton College is an accredited arboretum, a botanical garden for scientific and educational purposes. With a diverse variety of trees, flowers and shrubs, the Hamilton Arboretum seeks to preserve natural plant specimens, identify future planting goals, provide an aesthetic landscape for recreation and academic study (particularly for botany, biology and horticulture) and work with local plant organizations. The Arboretum is run by the Arboretum Advisory Committee, which is composed of Hamilton alumni, parents and faculty. The Chair of the Committee is Alexander Bulazel

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87, the Secretary is Sharon Rippey P’12, the Advisory Committee Members are Mike Klapmeyer, Scott R. Brinitzer ’85, Daniel O’Leary P’92 & ’95, MaryLou Owens P’82, Robert Southerland P’04, Thomas C. Succop ’58, John Suplee ’69 and the Ex Officio is Karen Leach.

As part of the College Arboretum’s educational programming, on certain Saturdays the Arboretum hosts free and public lectures that begin at 10 a.m. The Arboretum remarked that going along with their goal of promoting long-term stewardship of the environment, the “expert guest speakers provide valuable information that our lecture participants can utilize in their own gardens, yards, and homes.”

“We want our lectures to be an avenue that not only helps our participants in their own gardening pursuits, but also fosters a community where people can fully immerse themselves in their gardening passion.”

Additionally, in the past, the lecture series has included lectures, such as “The War of the Weeds,” “Bluebirds — And More!” and “Sustainable Management of Forest Products.” The location of the lectures is different for each specific lecture and the lectures can also be watched via Zoom.

Recently, on Oct. 8, the Arboretum hosted Ernest Cavallo ’71. Cavallo grew up in a non-gardening family in New Jersey. In 2008, when he was about to retire from the New York State Court system, Cavallo read an article in

The Garden

, a monthly magazine of the British Royal Horticultural Society, about Colesbourne Park in the United Kingdom. The New Jersey native decided to take a trip to the United Kingdom where he fell in love with Galanthus, also known as snowdrops. Snowdrops are a small genus of 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the Amaryllidaceae family.

As part of his passion for Galanthus and sharing his love of gardening, Cavallo presented his lecture, “Galanthophilia, A Good Kind of Love,” at Hamilton. Cavallo discussed his decade-long research in which he has identified the best practices to encourage Galanthus blooming and multiplication by experimenting with cultivars, a type of plant that is bred to have desired traits, as well as propagating and selling rare specimens.

It only costs $10 a year for students to become members of the Hamilton College Arboretum Association. The Association works to preserve the flora landscape of the College along with the Root Glen, provide educational opportunities for visitors and promote stewardship for the environment. All membership payments to the Arboretum can be made to the Trustees of Hamilton College and the membership each year lasts from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.

The Arboretum is in the process of scheduling events for the rest of the school year; however, none are confirmed yet. For information on the Hamilton Arboretum and Arboretum Lecture Series, visit the Hamilton Arboretum website.