Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
 
 
 

Scare up a Good Time at the Ar-BOO-retum

Ar-BOO-retum and Pumpkin Palooza Weekend on Tap at the Arb!

Chaska, MN (Oct. 16) -  Come and celebrate Halloween at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  Even better, arrive in a costume and your admission is free! 

Gather up your wee goblins and princesses and head to the "Ar-BOO-retum" on Halloween Day (Friday, Oct. 31) from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for some spooky fun.  Check out our "Scary-crows" on the outdoor walkways and the elaborate pumpkin display inside the Oswald Visitor Center. 

Stop by the Gift Store to pick up a free apple (for anyone in costume) and enjoy a complimentary cookie in the Oswald Visitor Center Restaurant. Then head down to the Marion Andrus Learning Center between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to join in the "Colors of Fall" family craft activity.  While there, check out the "please-touch" greenhouse and Under the Oak playground.  All events are free of charge. Gate admission waived for anyone in costume (Oct. 31 only). See you at the Ar-BOO-retum!   

Pumpkin Palooza Weekend

Curious about cucurbits (pumpkins and squash)?  Carve out some time for Pumpkin Palooza Weekend, Oct. 25-56, at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  Visit the dazzling display of pumpkin varieties inside  the Oswald Visitor Center - large or small, orange, blue or white, there's a pumpkin to suit everyone's taste.  

Also on tap for Pumpkin Palooza Weekend, the documentary "Bill's Big Pumpkins" about Buffalo, Minn., pumpkin-grower Bill Foss, will be screened both Saturday and Sunday, at 1 and 2:30 p.m. in the MacMillan Auditorium.  Master pumpkin-carvers will demonstrate their talents from 1 to 3 p.m. both days in the Visitor Center's Great Hall.  

Finally, back by popular demand, check out the "Mini-Pumpkin Heads" family craft activity from noon to 4 p.m. both days at the Marion Andrus Learning Center.  Create a mini-pumpkin head with veggie eyes and ears.  Cost is $1 per pumpkin.  You'll also have a chance to witness a pumpkin drop, collect its seeds to grow at home, create a picture frame and pose for family photos with your pump-"kin."   

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is located nine miles west of  Interstate 494 on Highway 5 in Chanhassen. The largest public garden in the Upper Midwest and a premier northern arboretum, it is part of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota and developed as a community and national resource for horticultural and environmental information, research, and public education. Arboretum hours in October are: grounds, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (or sunset, if earlier); Oswald Visitor Center and Snyder Building, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

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