Landis Arboretum Signs on for Museum Day

ESPERANCE, NY (08/16/2007)(readMedia)-- Landis, the Capital Region's Arboretum, will participate in “Museum Day,” presented by SMITHSONIAN magazine and Hyundai Motor America, on Saturday, September 29, 2007. On Museum Day, museums and cultural institutions nationwide open their doors free of charge to SMITHSONIAN magazine readers and Smithsonian.com visitors.

Traditionally, there is no admission charge to the 548-acres Landis Arboretum. Parking is free and dogs are welcomed as long as they are leashed. Free-will donations to help defray operating costs at Landis are always welcomed.

Last year, approximately 30,000 people participated in Museum Day, visiting 448 participating museums, including 55 Smithsonian affiliates. Celebrating culture, learning and knowledge, Museum Day reflects the spirit of the magazine, and emulates the free-admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, DC-based facilities. This year’s Museum Day is also supported by CITGO Petroleum Corporation and, for the third consecutive year, TIAA-CREF.

Attendees must present SMITHSONIAN magazine’s Museum Day Admission Card to gain free entry to participating institutions. At Landis, Smithsonian visitors are asked to sign the Arboretum's Guest Book. The Museum Day Admission Card is available in the September issue of SMITHSONIAN magazine and a downloadable version is available on the Museum Day website at www.smithsonian.com/museumdaycard. The general public is welcome to participate by going to the Smithsonian.com website and downloading the Museum Day Admission Card. Listings and links to other participating museums’ and sponsors’ sites can be found at www.smithsonian.com/museumday.

Multifaceted Jewel Worth Exploration

The Landis Arboretum is a public garden that includes eight miles of hiking and walking trails overlooking picturesque Schoharie Valley near Esperance, NY. Forty acres are developed with plantings trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials from around the world. The remainder of the property consists of natural areas, woodlands, and open fields reminiscent of the former farm of founder Fred Lape. The Landis Arboretum may be one of the best kept secrets in the northern Catskills and the along scenic Route 20 corridor between Albany and Skaneateles.

The privately held acres of the Arboretum comprise a national treasure which includes 163 acres of cultivated and native plants on the site of a 19th century farm, the home of Fred Lape, the Arboretum's founder. The Arboretum is central to the New York State Wine and Spa Trails and in close proximity to historic Sharon Springs. And, it is a natural stop for those traveling to the high-volume tourist attractions between the Albany, Cooperstown, and Finger Lakes Regions.

The Arboretum's most recent land acquisition almost doubled the size of the site and contains a horticulture bonanza. Last summer, a team of old-growth-forest experts surveyed the site and found species of trees ranging from 150 to 350 years old. The Landis Arboretum is now one of only three arboreta in eastern North America that have old growth forests. The other two are the New York Botanical Garden and Rutgers University.

The Landis Arboretum includes a nationally recognized collection of oaks and is registered with the North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC). The Arboretum also is included in the New York State Route 20 Bluebird Trail, bringing even more birdwatchers to the site. The Arboretum’s vast dark sky and wide horizons attract area astronomers to its meeting house and parking field for sky-watching events.

The Arboretum offers classes, workshops, guided and self-guided nature study, and is working toward providing meeting space in its bucolic setting for special events, lectures, and demonstrations. Workshop subjects include hawks, moths, birds, amphibians and reptiles, and arthropods. Horticultural interests are the focus of classes in pruning, tree identification, daylilies, and plant propagation. Ancillary workshops have focused on photography, basket making, botanical illustration and landscape painting. Trips to annual garden and flower shows, special interest nurseries, and public and private gardens are also offered by the Arboretum.

Funding for the Landis Arboretum’s upkeep and extensive community-focused programs is derived primarily from grants, donations, membership, and the increasingly popular Spring and Fall Plant Sales that have become hallmarks of the Arboretum. A Suggested Donation of $5 per adult/$15 family, helps to defray basic costs for this multifaceted operation.

The Arboretum is located 1.5 miles north of Route 20 in Esperance, an easy and beautiful ride from any plave in the Capital Region. The Landis Arboretum, PO Box 186, Lape Road, Esperance, NY 12066-0186; 518-875-6935/Fax:518-875-6394, www.landisarboretum.org.

About Smithsonian Publishing

Founded in 1970 with the launch of Smithsonian magazine, Smithsonian Publishing—comprised of Smithsonian magazine, Air & Space, goSmithsonian and the Smithsonian digital network—allows the intellectually curious to indulge and engage their passions for history, the arts, science, the natural world, culture and travel. Smithsonian Publishing’s flagship publication, Smithsonian magazine, has a circulation of more than 2 million. This multi-media network is also affiliated with the world’s most visited museum and research complexes at the Smithsonian Institution. For more information, visit www.smithsonianmagazine.com, www.airandspacemag.com, and www.gosmithsonian.com.

About Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 750 dealerships nationwide.

About CITGO

CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, refined waxes, asphalt and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

About TIAA-CREF

TIAA-CREF is a national financial services organization with over $412 billion in combined assets under management and the leading provider of retirement saving products and services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields. TIAA-CREF is committed to a long-term approach to investing, providing guidance tailored to the unique needs of our clients and offering products with among the lowest expenses in the industry.

Museum Contact: SMITHSONIAN Magazine:Shawna Seldon, The Rosen Group, 212.255.8455 ext. 212, Shawna@rosengrouppr.com

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Posted Thursday August 16, 2007 at 08:49 am by Landis Arboretum