Upcoming Events
This page will be updated as events are added. Come back to see what new programs we have coming up!
Multiple Dates
Fresh Air Fitness: Yoga in the Beal Botanical Garden
Tuesdays in the garden
12:15 - 1:00 p.m.
12:15 - 1:00 p.m.
Get outside and active for free. Enjoy the garden as you make time for your health and wellbeing. Please bring water, dress appropriately for weather, and bring a yoga mat or towel! Classes will meet under the gingko tree in the garden. These classes will be cancelled if there is significant weather. Check University Health and Wellbeing's social media accounts for weather updates. No pre-registration required this year, but there will be a QR code registration prior to the start of class.
Yoga in the Garden is a partnership between the Beal Botanical Garden and University Health and Wellbeing.
Summer Session 1 Dates
May 21, May 28, June 11, June 18, June 25
Summer Session 2 Dates
July 9, July 16, July 23, August 6, August 13
Fall Session Dates
September 3, September 10, September 17, September 24
September 3, September 10, September 17, September 24
Multiple Dates
Garden Edition: Deep Rooted Tour Series
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Dates:
June 16, 2024
July 14, 2024
August 4, 2024 (Register)
What can art tell us about the relationship between plants and humans? Join us for the summer garden edition of this popular tour series as we gather at the Beal Botanical Garden with Maeve Bassett, Applied Ethnobotanist and Education Program Director. Together, we’ll unearth the historical, social, and political narratives growing within plants in the garden and artworks from the MSU Broad Art Museum’s collection.
Registration for this free tour is encouraged. Use the links above that correspond to the date you wish to attend.
Deep-Rooted is an ongoing tour collaboration between the Beal Botanical Garden and the MSU Broad Art Museum, where art and plants intertwine in a conversation about the extraordinary ways our natural world has influenced art and human societies throughout history.
Deep-Rooted is an ongoing tour collaboration between the Beal Botanical Garden and the MSU Broad Art Museum, where art and plants intertwine in a conversation about the extraordinary ways our natural world has influenced art and human societies throughout history.
July 24 2024
What is an Herbarium?
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Location: East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbot Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48823
Join us at the East Lansing Public Library to talk about herbaria! During this talk, you’ll learn what an herbarium is, their origin and history, and how plants are curated into an herbarium collection. At the end of this talk, you’ll be given resources to start collecting and you’ll be able to practice mounting your own herbarium specimen to take home.
This program series is a collaboration between the Beal Botanical Garden, MSU Herbarium, and the East Lansing Public Library.
August 8 2024
Beal Botanical Garden Tour: Etymology of Naming Plants
12:10 - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden, meet at the shed
Join us for a lunchtime tour to explore where plants get their names, including the stories of the good, the potentially problematic, the downright weird, and debate common vs. scientific names!
Instructor: Maeve Bassett, Education Program Director
This program is a collaboration with the MSU Library.
August 10 2024
Citizen Science: iNaturalist (app) Training and Library BioBlitz
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Location: East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbot Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48823
Interested in becoming a Citizen Scientist or just want to learn more about the natural world around you? Join MSU Life Sciences Librarian Jodi Coalter and ELPL's Dr. B for an introductory workshop about iNaturalist, a free app that allows everyone to collect observations of nature that can be shared with scientists around the world as it becomes part of a global network of research data. At this workshop, you'll learn how to use iNaturalist and about some of the amazing ways in which scientists and others use the observations collected to better understand and protect nature. Weather permitting, we'll then head outside to survey the biodiversity around the Library in our own local BioBlitz! You'll also be able to utilize these skills at upcoming BioBlitz events across the community.
This program series is a collaboration between the Beal Botanical Garden, MSU Herbarium, and the East Lansing Public Library.
August 11 2024
Music and the Garden: Quartet Fiume (saxophone quartet)
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Register Here
Join us for an interactive experience of music, art, and science at the heart of the MSU campus. The Beal Botanical Garden and the MSU College of Music present free, family-friendly events on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer. Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and get ready for a musical experience!
This year we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of our campus arboretum. Each of our themes is inspired by the ways in which trees positively impact our lives!
Breathe With Us
Take a deep breath - trees release oxygen and keep the air around us safe to breathe. What else is important for your personal wellbeing?
Quartet Fiume
The award-winning quartet from MSU's saxophone studio will present a range of musical selections that reflect nature and wellbeing. Quartet members include Nathan Salazar, Parker Fritz, Owen Kilpatrick, and Michael Keeler.
Event Schedule
1:00pm - Take part in educational activities for all ages
2:00pm - Music performance
3:00pm - Plant Perspectives Tour through the garden
2:00pm - Music performance
3:00pm - Plant Perspectives Tour through the garden
Events happen rain or shine. In the event of rain, activities may take place within the Music Building across from the garden on West Circle Dr. Signs will be posted to direct patrons where to go.
The Music and the Garden Series is presented by Beal Botanical Garden in partnership with musicians coordinated by the MSU College of Music.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Season Sponsor
Dr. Craig Fedore
August 23 & 24 2024
Screen on the Green
8:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Bring a blanket and a friend and join us in the Beal Botanical Garden for a movie under the stars! Popcorn provided while supplies last. Follow us on social media for featured movie hints!
September 4 2024
Wellbeing Wednesday: Create Your Own Botanical Blueprint
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Create a masterpiece while mastering peace at Beal Botanical Garden. Become familiar with the heart of campus while enjoying nature and art for your wellbeing. All programs will proceed while supplies last and with weather permitting.
Cyanotypes: Utilize one of the oldest photographic printing processes in history to capture the essence of Beal with botanical materials.
September 11 2024
Wellbeing Wednesday: Shapes & Patterns & Mosaics, Oh My!
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Create a masterpiece while mastering peace at Beal Botanical Garden. Become familiar with the heart of campus while enjoying nature and art for your wellbeing. All programs will proceed while supplies last and with weather permitting.
Mosaics: Be inspired by the shapes and patterns of nature and create a crafty mosaic out of textured materials you may not always think of. Use your mosaic to decorate your dorm or give to a friend. Allow your imagination to run wild!
September 12 2024
Beal Botanical Garden Tour: Fall and Winter Plant Lore
12:10 - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden, meet at the shed
Join us for a lunchtime tour of the Beal Botanical Garden to hear some of the plant lore created to explain or protect against the shortening days and darker, colder nights of winter. What’s the connection between corn and Dracula, Santa and Mario, which plants will protect you, and which ones to avoid?
Instructor: Maeve Bassett, Education Program Director
This program is a collaboration with the MSU Library.
September 12 2024
BealFest 2024: The Apple of MSU's Eye
4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Join us for Beal Botanical Garden's annual fall celebration. Honoring 150 years of MSU's Campus Arboretum, this year's theme will highlight trees, with headliner, the much beloved apple! This event will include something for everyone with activities, performances, demonstrations, treats, and trees to adopt!
This page will be updated as details are confirmed.
September 18 2024
Wellbeing Wednesday: Painting in the Garden
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Create a masterpiece while mastering peace at Beal Botanical Garden. Become familiar with the heart of campus while enjoying nature and art for your wellbeing. All programs will proceed while supplies last and with weather permitting.
Painting: Allow the garden to be your muse and paint to your heart's desire. Bring your own material to paint on such as canvas, a bag, maybe even some shoes! Supplies will be limited. The first to come will be the first to paint!
September 21 2024
Celebrating Citizen Science
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Join us at the Beal Botanical Garden for a celebration of citizen science! The celebration will include a brief iNaturalist and SEEK (the youth version) training, a garden bioblitz, unveiling of our new photo stations, a tree give-away, and more!
This program series is a collaboration between the Beal Botanical Garden, MSU Herbarium, and the East Lansing Public Library.
September 25 2024
Wellbeing Wednesday: Sip & Spill Some Tea
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden
Create a masterpiece while mastering peace at Beal Botanical Garden. Become familiar with the heart of campus while enjoying nature and art for your wellbeing. All programs will proceed while supplies last and with weather permitting.
Tea & Journaling: Take a moment to enjoy a personalized tea blend and journal away. Don't have a journal? No worries, we have one you can pocket.
October 12 2024
Beal Botanical Garden Tour: Taking a 'Peak' of Autumn
12:10 - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Beal Botanical Garden, meet at the shed
Join us for a lunchtime tour of the Beal Botanical Garden to enjoy the signs of fall, vibrant changing leaves, splitting seed pods, and plants getting ready for a cozy Michigan winter.
Instructor: Bethany Troy, Lead Gardener
This program is a collaboration with the MSU Library.
