Celebrate National Pollinator Week by creating beautiful illustrations of the plants that support them! Join Education & Exhibits Director, Dr. Mark Miller, for a walk through the Hillside Pollinator Garden to see and learn about beautiful native plants and their pollinators. After that, award-winning botanical illustrator, Lisa Rasmussen, will work with you step-by-step in painting the pollinators and plants with watercolors.

Celebrate National Pollinator Week by taking one of the best, easiest actions to assist native bees is to provide shelter for them in your own garden. Join us as we examine the essential elements and features that pollinators need to not only survive but thrive – all while you bedazzle your own native bee box. This program will be followed by a plant walk in the Hillside Pollinator Garden to learn about plants that grow well in western Pennsylvania.

Treat yourself to a daylong retreat at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden! Celebrate the coming of Summer and gather at the Garden for a day of mindfulness and nature immersion. You can expect guided yoga practice, meditation and journaling, mindful walks, and opportunities to connect with oneself, with nature, and with others. This retreat is suitable for all levels of experience and ability. Space is limited to allow for an intimate group experience.

Herbalism was an essential component of life on the 18th-century frontier of Pennsylvania. The forest was abundant with beneficial plants and fungi, and these staples proved to have strong medicinal properties. These herbal remedies have been used for centuries. Join local author and historian Brady Crytzer for a course on 18th-century frontier herbalism. Topics covered include common recipes, remedies, and tips for starting your own home medicinal herb garden.

Release your inner artist and create nature-inspired art using recycled materials, repurposed items bound for the landfill and found items of nature. Explore the many gardens and woodlands of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden to visualize what the Camp’s collective artwork will be. The piece created at the end of the week will be on display at the Garden until the end of October. Bring a bag lunch every day. Dress for the weather as we will be outside creating artwork for much of the time.

Join Doug Oster from Gardening with Doug, and Dr. Mark Miller, Education & Exhibits Director, for a walk through the gardens and woodlands of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden to view and learn about the wondrous plants found here! There will be copious amounts of witty banter and plant-nerdy conversations. This program will focus on plants that take the heat and continue to look great. The tour will be followed by a delicious lunch featuring fresh, seasonal produce.

Enjoy an evening of blooms, brews and tunes at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden! This evening features beer selections from local breweries, music, and games under the tent in Peirce Celebration Garden. Check pittsburghbotanicgarden.org or follow us on social media for updates closer to the event!

Tune in to one of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden’s main messages: that nature nurtures. Each day will be an exploration of how nature can nurture not only your body but your mind as well. Learn about the benefits of medicinal plants, cook with local produce, use the iNaturalist technology to learn about nature all around you. Bring a bag lunch every day. Dress for the weather as we will be outside enjoying nature for much of the time. 

Connecting with nature is essential to child development, sparking creativity and imagination – and Summer is a sizzlingly fun time for discovery in nature. Join Sarah Levinthal, Youth Educator, in talking about nature during the showy season and then heading outdoors in search of adventure. Examine the bounty of the Garden in bloom! Your visit will include time in the Garden’s different habitats, a story reading and time for free play.

Join Dorit Brauer to learn tools for optimizing health and achieving an in-depth understanding of the mind/body connection. Guided meditation is accompanied by a ‘sound bath’ – the relaxing sound of quartz crystal singing bowls – which induce alpha wave-level activity in the brain, balance hemispheres of the brain, and promote health and harmony.

Improve flexibility, strength, and mind-body connection with certified instructors from Yoga H’Om. Pittsburgh Botanic Garden’s peaceful garden and woodland spaces provide an excellent environment to focus and immerse yourself in this practice. Yoga is mostly held at the Lotus Pond, but may move to Weisbrod Learning Pavilion or Peirce Education Rooms based on weather conditions.

Join us and experience nature’s power to soothe, refresh, and open your heart. The Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing in English) is a slow, sensory-based walk in the woods, during which we focus on the sights, sounds, smells, and feels of nature. This is neither a naturalist exploration nor a fitness trek; this walk is about soaking in the health benefits of spending relaxed time in nature. It’s also about tending and mending our relationships with nature, ourselves, and others.

Breathe in the freshness and beauty of the Garden, and breathe out stress and tension. When you practice Tai Chi Qigong at the Garden, you awaken your senses to the natural world around you and feel rejuvenated in the presence of its harmony and vibrancy. Tai Chi Qigong is a practice of moving meditation involving simple movement patterns, rhythms and stillness. It quiets the mind, opens the heart and restores balance. 

Children and parents will have a blast getting inspired by nature and engaging the senses at Young Artists in the Garden! Each week, this drop-in program includes activities like coloring, reading books, making a craft, and playing games – all relating to a new garden topic. Bring a friend and join the fun in the Weisbrod Learning Pavilion, located in the Garden of the Five Senses.

Young Artists in the Garden is included with regular daily admission. Don’t forget – members visit free!