Spring Comes To Life At The Barnes Arboretum For Arbor Day

By Vittoria Woodill

MERION, Pa (CBS) -- Arbor Day is a day when people are encouraged to plant and care for trees. And there is no better place to commemorate the occasion than the Barnes Arboretum in Merion.

Spring is alive at the Barnes Arboretum!

And that means you're now invited to enjoy 12 acres of historic herbaceous plants, rare florals, state champion trees, and lilac collections.

The fragrant lilacs vary in color from white to dark purple.

It's just one of the special collections of Laura Barnes, the wife of Dr. Albert Barnes who was the man behind the Barnes Museum of Fine Art.

Jacob Thomas, the deputy director of Living Collections at the arboretum say it was Laura who was close to nature and interested in cultivating a picture landscape to be viewed from her bedroom window.

"Everybody loves a good view," says Thomas. "She assembled the collections as teaching collections and created the horticultural program in 1940."

Dating back to the early 1900's many of the original plants are still in bloom, like the Barnes Foundation Lilac which Laura cultivated herself.

"She wasn't just an observer, she was hands-on and developed her own hybrids," said Thomas.

So let us learn from Laura's legacy through this open air invitation, to observe and to appreciate the art that lies above the ground here at the Barnes Arboretum.

The Barnes Arboretum begins its 2016 season with a plant sale on Saturday, April 30th.