Visit Brookside Gardens this Summer

[Howard Hartman]

The Brookside Gardens School of Botanical Art & Illustration presents Botanica: The Art and Science of Plants, the annual exhibition of student and teacher artwork now through July 10. Meet the Artists each Saturday in June from 10am-2pm in the Visitors Center Atrium. Just in time for Father's Day! Visit one of our two gift shops this weekend for 50% off the "Secret Life of Trees" t-shirt and other Father's Day specials. Open 10am-4pm Monday through Saturday and 12-4pm on Sunday. Summer has finally arrived! Here at Brookside Gardens, summer means many things - colorful garden displays, our Summer Twilight Concert Series, and of course, the Wings of Fancy Live Butterfly Exhibit! Bring the family to see more than 50 different species of North American, Costa Rican, and African butterflies and moths. Or, bring your camera for one of our Focus on Butterflies photography sessions on weekend mornings throughout the summer for a rare opportunity to photograph these beauties with a very small group of people. Visit our website for more information about visiting Wings of Fancy, which this year is focusing on the butterflies in your backyard. Learn how to plant a butterfly-friendly garden by planting host plants to support the entire butterfly life cycle. Congratulations go to Ms. Stacy Jones and her family for winning a Wings of Fancy Live Butterfly Exhibit Frequent Visitor Family Pass. Stacy entered a drawing that was held at Brookside Gardens from May 7 - 9 in conjunction with National Public Gardens Day. Thank you to all of our visitors who entered. The new Frequent Visitor Pass is good all season. Individual, dual and family passes are on sale in the gift shop for $45, $60, and $112.  Summer also is a great time for children's summer camps! We offer a variety of camps, including Budding Artists during the last two weeks of June, a great opportunity for kids aged 5-7 or 8-10 to learn drawing and painting techniques in the garden. Later this summer, kids aged 8-11 will love Farms, Food, Fun and Sun! Campers will join Lynn Richard, our Children's Program Horticulturist, to learn about organic farming and food nutrition while visiting three different local organic farms. Limited space is still available for most of our camps. Visit ParkPASS for pricing and registration information. Finally, join us in the Gude Garden for our two remaining Summer Twilight Concerts on June 22 & 29 from 6:30-8:00pm. We had a great turnout for the Bad Influence Band this week (pictured below). Next week, we'll be featuring Latin Soul, a local band that blends authentic salsa, meringue, bachata, and more. Nothing beats an outdoor concert in such a beautiful venue; best of all, the concerts are free! Bring a blanket or a few chairs and enjoy the music in the gardens. Until next time, happy gardening! ~the Staff of Brookside Gardens 1800 Glenallan Avenue | Wheaton, MD 20902