Programs & Workshops
We are pleased to offer both on-line and in-person programs.
Please take careful note if your program is online or at the Garden. Email gardenprograms@berkeley.edu with questions or to be added to a program waitlist.
Upcoming Programs
ZOOM PROGRAM: Houseplant Sale Preview and Plant Care Tips
Tues, Sept 19 | 12:00 – 12:45 pm
September Butterfly Walks
Tues, Sept 26 | 1:30 pm & 3:00 pm
Traditional Amaranth Harvesting
Sun, Oct 1 | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
The Science and Art of Pressed Plants
Wed, Oct 4 | 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Monthly Integral Taiji & Qigong
Fri, Oct 6 | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Monthly Sick Plant Clinic
Sat, Oct 7 | 9:00 – 11:30 am
REDWOOD GROVE CONCERT: Sonny & the Sunsets
Sun, Oct 8 | 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Pine Needle Basketry Workshop
Sun, Oct 15 | 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
ZOOM PROGRAM: Crops of the World Garden Collection
Tues, Oct 17 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Botanical Journal Workshop with Catherine Watters
Thur, Oct 19 | 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
The Museum of Scent Book Event
Sun, Oct 22 | 10:00 – 11:30 am
October Butterfly Walk
Tues, Oct 26 | 1:30 pm
Animal Day Family Festival
Sun, Oct 29 | 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Bay Area Bats (with live bats!)
Mon, Oct 30 | 5:00 – 6:00 pm
Accessibility: We welcome all visitors and are actively working on accessibility improvements to our historic facilities in the Strawberry Canyon. The grounds include areas of paved pathways, as well as unpaved paths that may be narrow, rocky, uneven, or steep. There are three accessible parking spots available in the main Garden parking lot. Trained service dogs are allowed to enter the Garden grounds.
If you require accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting, alternative media formats, etc.) to fully participate in any of our programming, please contact Marykaren Mrowka at least 7-10 days in advance of the event at 510-664-7606 (CA Relay Service) or gardenprograms@berkeley.edu.[/column]
View Programs by Theme
Art + Design
Art courses at the UC Botanical Garden are inspired by the natural world and our diverse plant collection. The Garden offers regular botanical illustration courses, as well as one day workshops in watercolor, brush painting, drawing and other art forms.
The Garden hosts indoor art exhibitions each year, including our annual Plants Illustrated exhibit of Botanical Art. We have also worked with many talented Bay Area artists to present provocative installations. Visit our Exhibitions page to see past and upcoming exhibitions.
Aug 17 · ILLUSTRATION WORKSHOP: A Cabinet of Curiosities Illustration with Catherine Watters
Sept 10 · FILM SCREENING: Taming the Garden with filmmaker Salomé Jashi
Families + Children
The Garden loves its budding botanists, and in addition to our beloved summer day camp, Green Stuff Camp, the Garden offers monthly family programs uniquely designed for families to learn together.
Aug 13 · DISCOVERY STATION: Flowers and Seeds
Sept TBD · Family Program: TBA
Oct 29 · ANIMAL DAY!
Horticulture
At the root of our programming, the Garden offers classes for the plant enthusiast, home gardener and botanist alike. Learn about the people and places that have shaped conservation and landscape design practices, and incorporate new practices in garden design into your landscape.
MONTHLY, First Saturday · Sick Plant Clinic
Nature + Fauna
We offer programs year-round exploring the natural world, including many of our faunal cohabitants. At these seasonal offerings, come learn more about mushrooms, lichen, birds, newts and programs on bats and owls too.
Aug 22 · Butterfly Walks
Aug 29 · Summer Bird Walk with Chris Carmichael
Oct 29 · ANIMAL DAY!
People + Plants
Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary field that studies the relationship between plants and people. The Garden is ever inspired by the many incredible uses of plants around the world and strives to preserve this knowledge with a series of hands-on programming and cutting edge lectures to teach these skills.
Sept 10 · FILM SCREENING: Taming the Garden with filmmaker Salomé Jashi
Research + Conservation
Building on the world-class research that takes place at UC Berkeley, the Garden presents work of UC faculty and scientists, as well as local and international scholars and botanists.
Wellness + Music
Be. Here. Now. In addition to our world-class collection used by researchers and scientists, landscape architects and naturalists, the Garden, put simply, is just a beautiful place to be. To aid in cultivating mindfulness and presence, the Garden offers a new complement of programs that are designed to develop practices that inspire mind/body experiences and encourage you to be present, look more closely, and appreciate the Garden’s effect in new ways.
Visit the Redwood Grove Concerts page for our Summer Concert Series.
See below for free Integral Taiji & Qigong workshop recording, or join us for an in person Taiji & Qigong Class!
MONTHLY · Integral Taiji & Qigong
Take a Self-Guided Contemplative Tour of the Garden – click here to download the tour.
Visit our Calendar for more details, registration, and the most up-to-date program listings.
Integral Taiji & Qigong
We invite you to participate in a virtual Integral Taiji & Qigong class with our resident instructor Elizabeth McAnally filmed in the Garden’s Redwood Grove. Elizabeth’s classes focus on the somatic, psycho-spiritual, ecological, and cosmological dimensions of taiji (tai chi). No prior experience necessary. Please consider making a donation to support our free programming
Past Featured Program Series
Connecting Plants and People: An Ethnobotanical Conversation
The Garden hosted its first-ever Ethnobotany Symposium on October 11-12, 2019. Over the course of two days, the vast discipline of ethnobotany was explored through a variety of lectures, hands-on workshops, tours, and demonstrations. The Garden hosted both local and world-renowned speakers and presented examples of the undeniable, multi-faceted relationship between people and plants. View the list of speakers, agenda, and photos from the event here.
Trees & Tones
The UC Botanical Garden hosted a four-part series, October through November 2018, that highlighted the relationship between music and plants as seen in instrument making and musical traditions throughout the world. Each lecture was accompanied by a concert or demonstration.
African Blackwood – Oboes · Brenda Schuman-Post, Sonic Forest
Resonating Woods – Classical & Folk Guitars · John F Mello, Peter Zisa, TARIMBA
Trees & Gourds – Sitars & Tamburas · J Scott Hackleman, Joanna Mack, Ferhan Quereshi
Pau-Brasil – Violin & Cello Bows · Zac Cande, Lisa Grodin
Science of Cannabis Symposium
The UC Botanical Garden presented a month-long series of weekly symposia on the Science of Cannabis in February 2018. While the lines between the scientific and social issues surrounding Cannabis can be porous, the focus on this symposium will be to disseminate knowledge based upon scientific research. Watch recorded lectures here.
The Environmental Impact of Large Scale Cannabis Cultivation · Amanda Reiman, PhD
The Genetics of Cannabis Breeds · Mowgli Holmes, PhD
The Neuroscience of Cannabis · David Presti, PhD
The Ethnobotany of Cannabis · Thomas J. Carlson, MD/MS
Cannabis as Medicine · Donald I. Abrams, MD