Arboretum gives tours

The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum will hold its third annual Herb and Garden Festival May 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Following this main event will be a session from the Brown-Bag Lecture Series.

Vendors from all over Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina will come to Harrisonburg to sell a wide variety of plants and flowers at the festival.

Garden societies members from the Harrisonburg Orchid Group, the Augusta Herb Society and the Native Plant Society also will provide educational lectures and advice on proper plant care at their booths.

Bobbie Elliot has been the coordinator for both of the previous Herb and Garden Festivals in addition to this year’s event.

“I am a gardener myself, and I find it very worthwhile to be able to bring the quality of vendors to other area gardeners,” he said. “We do have great nurseries in the area, but these are different types of [plants] that you would only get through by mail.”

According to Elliot, the attendance for last year’s festival was about 2,500 to 3,000 people. The arboretum expects a good turnout for this year as well, and Elliot said that there always are a large number of JMU students at the events.

“It is very refreshing to see younger generations involved in this,” Elliot said. “The arboretum is very beautiful right now and we would hate for everyone to miss all the bloomings.”

The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum is located off of University Boulevard behind the University Recreation Center and is open to the public daily from dusk until dawn. Admission is free.

For more information on the third annual Herb and Garden Festival or other events and arboretum activities planned through the summer, visit the arboretum‘s Web site at www.jmu.edu/arboretum or call x83194.