U.S. Capitol Grounds Tree Walk With Melanie Choukas-Bradley

Washington DC has been known as “The City of Trees” for over 100 years. With a rich arboreal history and amazing ecological diversity, it’s easy to understand how we’ve earned this name! Join us for an exciting opportunity with DC naturalist Melanie Choukas-Bradley, author of City of Trees and several other nature books, for an early spring tree tour of the historic and botanically diverse trees of the Capitol Grounds and Arboretum(the new official name of the site).

During this tree walk we will circumnavigate the Capitol, admiring and studying the trees in earliest springtime splendor including several species of maple and magnolia, century-old oaks, pecans, giant sequoias, and the intriguing jujube. In addition to the earliest blooms at the Capitol, we’ll get a last look at many winter buds just before budbreak.

Learn about the many official state trees on the grounds and get an overview of Frederick Law Olmsted’s design for the Capitol landscape, which shares elements of his plan for Central Park. Stop at notable sections of the grounds to see the five crabapple trees planted to honor the five Sullivan brothers who died when their naval ship went down during World War II; a horse-chestnut propagated from Anne Frank’s tree in Amsterdam; and a white oak planted by House Speaker Sam Rayburn.

Melanie is intimately acquainted with the Capitol’s trees, having studied them for over 40 years beginning with research for the first edition of her local nature classic, City of Trees.

In addition to City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Washington, DC; Melanie is the award-winning author of six other regional nature titles, including: A Year in Rock Creek Park, Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island, and The Joy of Forest Bathing.

Register today to learn from Melanie and see some of our District’s most beautiful trees as they start to transform and blossom for Spring!