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

Writing Wild book cover.

Online Author Event: Writing Wild
Thur, Mar 16 | 6 pm – 7 pm

Girl putting moss and plants in a small glass jar

Family Program: Magical Mini Moss Gardens
Sat, Mar 18 | 10 am – 11 am

A smiling woman with a sketchbook

FULL:Botanical Nature Printing Workshop
Sat, March 25 | 9 am – 1 pm

Spring Flower Botanical Art Class
with Catherine Watters
Thur, April 6 | 10 am – 4 pm

Katherine Greenberg in her native garden.

Tending a CA Native Plant Garden
with Katherine Greenberg
Wed, April 12 | 1:30 – 3 pm

View Programs by Theme

Art + Design

Latifat Apatira with artwork of botanical ink and leaves

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.

Mar 12 · Nature Journaling for Garden Enthusiasts

Mar 25 · Winter Botanical Nature Printing with Latifat Apatira

Apr 6 · Spring Flowers Botanical Art Class

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.

March 18 · Family Program: Magical Mini Moss Gardens

April 8 · Family Program: Naturally Dyed Eggs

Horticulture

Katherine Greenberg in her California native garden.

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.

Mar 15 · ZOOM TALK: Succulent Plants of South Africa’s Western Cape

April 12 · Tending a California Native Garden with Katherine Greenberg

Nature + Fauna

Mother and daughter looking at newts.

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.

 

People + Plants

A rainbow collection of plant-dyed yarn.

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.

March · check back

Research + Conservation

Photo of Fred Dortort lounging on enormous succulent plant in South Africa.

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.

March 15 · Succulent Plants of South Africa’s Western Cape

Wellness + Music

Image of a musician in the Redwood Grove.

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!

Apr 21 · 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.

Calendar

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

Donate

Past Featured Program Series

seeds and a magnifying glass.

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.

Image of the silhouette of instruments in front of the Redwood Grove.

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

Artistic representation of a plant and plant parts.

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