By Linda Blachly

For those wanting to experience the beauty of the Philadelphia area, you won’t want to miss Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania.

The arboretum is an intimate, 92-acre Victorian delight that allows visitors to experience peaceful gardens with colorful flowers, changing scenery and unusual trees in a romantic, historic landscape.

The former summer home of Quaker brother and sister John and Lydia Morris, the beautiful gardens contain thousands of rare and lovely woody plants, including some of Philadelphia’s oldest, rarest and largest trees.

A champion Katsura tree and Japanese overlook garden are legacies of the pair’s trips to Asia. A stone bench and gazebo provide vantage points for enjoying the formal rose gardens, and there are many sculptures throughout the grounds.

There’s a rustic log cabin where Lydia held tea parties, an Italian loggia with a statue of Mercury and a hidden passageway; a swan pond with a love temple and a glass fernery.

The arboretum hosts many weddings, special events and classes throughout the year and offers free guided tours on weekends.

‘Out on a Limb’ tree exhibit

Debuting this summer at the Morris Arboretum is a dramatic new exhibit called Tree Adventure, which explores the relationship between plants and people with its central theme, we need trees, and trees need us. Armed with a Passport to Adventure, visitors will travel the expanse of the Arboretum’s 92-acre garden to learn the critical role trees play in our environment while having fun engaging with trees. Designed by Metcalfe Architecture & Design, the exhibit will be a fully accessible, fascinating learning experience for both children and adults.

The iconic centerpiece of the Morris Arboretum’s Tree Adventure exhibit is Out on a Limb, a striking new 450-foot long walkway that will soar 50 feet above the ground, and give visitors a bird’s eye view of the forest.

From Out on a Limb, visitors can cross a swaying Suspension Bridge to the Bird’s Nest, scamper onto the Squirrel Scramble’s rope-netting skirting two towering trees, head to the top of the Wissahickon Vista platform for sweeping views, or just wander along the Canopy Walk rising high above the forest floor.

A Passport to Adventure will guide visitors to stations throughout the Morris Arboretum, each of which will illustrate interactive and experiential learning. In addition to Out on a Limb, the Passport stations will include:

The Dawn Redwood Grove… to meet living fossil

Here, visitors will learn about plant explorers and discover the story behind the magnificent dawn redwood “living fossils,” as well as how to measure the height of trees. Once common across North America, these trees were thought to have become extinct nearly two million years ago. Today, they exist because of the efforts of early plant explorers. This grove includes some of the oldest and largest dawn redwoods in the country. Visitors will discover for themselves just how large they’ve grown.

Oak Allée …to learn about trees’ root systems

Roots will be painted on the pavement to show how far out they can go. Visitors will be directed to pace off the roots and calculate their distance, and learn how roots work, how they grow, and what they do for trees.

Springhouse… to compare nature’s temperatures

The Springhouse was the best means of refrigeration in pre-Victorian and Colonial times. Though now obsolete, it remains a symbol of early America and might be thought of as the “coolest” place in the Arboretum. Just how cool is it? features a interactive exercise where visitors analyze temperature changes using thermometers placed in the shade, in the sun, in the water and even underground!

Log Cabin… to experience life in another era

All kinds of animals depend on trees to build their homes, keep warm, find and store food, and raise their families. The Log Cabin is a perfect example of how people rely on trees to provide these same things. Tucked away in a lush gully, a visit to the Log Cabin, complete with a fireplace, historic photos and stories, and porch from which to observe the forest is like a step back in time.

Tree Adventure is an experiential exhibit that will allow people to reconnect with the natural world in new ways. It is universally accessible, welcoming people of all ages and abilities into the wonder that can be found in the heart of the woods. It will offer visitors new opportunities for educational enrichment and increased ecological awareness.

Visitors will not only be entertained but inspired, and will leave with increased insight about the importance of trees, and a greater recognition of the critical need for environmental stewardship.

Morris Arboretum is located at 100 Northwestern Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.

For information on hours, tours and events, visit www.morrisarboretum.com or call 215-247-5777.

For updated information about the Tree Adventure exhibit, visit www.morrisarboretum.org.