Celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day with Phipps!
Join Phipps Conservatory as we celebrate Earth Day and National Arbor Day with new adult education courses through the entire month of April! Phipps’ Adult Education team has created an exciting array of classes to celebrate the importance of trees and their role in connecting humans to nature. With exciting topics ranging from beginner bonsai courses to a guided nature walk, there’s a course for all sorts of green thumb enthusiasts!
For more details about our programs or to receive personalized class recommendations from our helpful staff, please feel free to contact us at edu@phipps.conservatory.org.
Confirmations will be emailed the day before each class, including a Zoom link. Please check your spam/junk mail folder and if you have not received the link, email edu@phipps.conservatory.org.
Virtual classes are recorded and made available to all registered participants for one month after the program.
Cancellation policy:
Contact edu@phipps.conservatory.org or 412-441-4442 ext. 3925 to cancel a class registration.
- Up to two weeks before the class (or the first class date, for a multi-session class), you may receive a full refund minus a non-refundable $10 adminstrative fee.
- Up to 72 hours (3 days) before the class or the first class date, you may receive a 50% refund.
- Less than 72 hours (3 days) before the class or the first class date, there are no refunds.
- Special events like conferences will have a separate cancellation policy and refund deadline.
All times are Eastern Time Zone.
Want to sign up with a gift certificate?
Contact Phipps at edu@phipps.conservatory.org or 412-441-4442 ext. 3925 with your choice of class to sign up with a gift certificate. If there is a remaining balance for the class or a remaining balance on the gift certificate, we will discuss those details.
Click titles below for full course descriptions
Gardening and Botanical Crafts
- Beginner Bonsai: Juniper: Session One | Alex Spiro
- Beginner Bonsai: Juniper: Session One | Alex Spiro | April 6 | 6 – 8 p.m.
- From Pulp to Paper to Book Binding: Growing Books from Scratch | Katie Dement and Lisa Simon
- From Pulp to Paper to Book Binding: Growing Books from Scratch | Katie Dement and Lisa Simon | April 3, 10, 17 and 24 | 6:30 – 8 p.m.
- Beginner Bonsai: Juniper: Session Two | Alex Spiro
- Beginner Bonsai: Juniper: Session Two | Alex Spiro | April 13 | 10 a.m. – Noon
- Shinrin Yoku Guided Forest Therapy Walk: Shortened | Martha O'Gray
- Shinrin Yoku Guided Forest Therapy Walk: Shortened | Martha O'Gray | April 13 | 12:30 – 2 p.m.
- Knotweed Paper Making | Albert Pantone
- Knotweed Paper Making | Albert Pantone | April 22 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m
- Shinrin Yoku Guided Forest Therapy Walk | Martha O'Gray | April 23 | 12:30 – 3 p.m.
- Shinrin Yoku Guided Forest Therapy Walk | Martha O'Gray | April 23 | 12:30 – 3 p.m.
Floral Design
- Woodland Botanical Nature Design | Polly Berginc AIFD
- Woodland Botanical Nature Design | Polly Berginc AIFD | April 10 | 6:30 – 8 p.m.
Culinary Arts
- Picnic with Phipps | Chef Emily Larsen
- Picnic with Phipps | Chef Emily Larsen | April 18 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
- Waste Not Dinner | Chef Rachel Homan
- Waste Not Dinner | Chef Rachel Homan | April 23 | 6 – 8 p.m.
- Turning Peels into Meals | Lexy Baird
- Turning Peels into Meals | Lexy Baird | April 24 | 6 – 8 p.m.
Ecological Gardening
- What Your Trees Wish You Knew | Andrew Tomaskovic
- What Your Trees Wish You Knew | Andrew Tomaskovic | April 20 | 9 a.m. – Noon
Botanical Art and Illustration
- Arbor Day Nature Journaling | Melissa Fabian
- Arbor Day Nature Journaling | Melissa Fabian | April 25 and May 2 | 6 – 9 p.m.
Beginner Bonsai: Juniper: Session One | Alex Sprio
Sat., April 6 | 10 a.m. – Noon
Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park
$30 members | $35 nonmembers | $55 material fee
Master the ancient art of bonsai in our hands-on workshops, and learn the horticultural techniques of styling, wiring, potting and root pruning this outdoor tree. Style your own tree and take it home to build your collection. All classes are suitable for beginners. Materials are provided, but bring a pair of hand pruners if you have them.
From Pulp to Paper to Book Binding: Growing Books from Scratch | Katie Dement and Lisa Simon
Wednesdays April 3, 10, 17 and 24 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park
$150 members | $175 nonmembers | $30 material fee
Explore the unique pleasures of “growing” your own books with paper you make by hand. Led by two dynamic instructors, this workshop series takes you through the inter-linked process of making paper and books. Start by learning the history of books and paper-making, followed by multiple opportunities to create paper from reclaimed fibers and to embellishing them with pressed and dried plants. These papers will then become the pages in the different book structures you will produce and take home.
Woodland Botanical Nature Design
Wed., April 10 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park
$30 members | $35 nonmembers | $40 material fee
Create a gathering of nature’s materials, plants and floral in this unique design, capturing the reflection of a woodland garden.
Beginner Bonsai: Juniper: Session Two | Alex Sprio
Sat., April 13 | 10 a.m. – Noon
Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park
$30 members | $35 nonmembers | $55 material fee
Master the ancient art of bonsai in our hands-on workshops, and learn the horticultural techniques of styling, wiring, potting and root pruning this outdoor tree. Style your own tree and take it home to build your collection. All classes are suitable for beginners. Materials are provided, but bring a pair of hand pruners if you have them.
Shinrin Yoku Guided Forest Therapy Walk Martha O'Gray
Sat., April 13 | 12:30 – 2 p.m.
Meets at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden
$15 members | $20 nonmembers
Come join Forest Awakenings for a relaxing nature retreat shaped by the Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku. Join this shortened version of our popular forest therapy walk, where we’ll slow down and connect with the More Than Human World in a deeper, more intimate way. Following a research-based process, we’ll get in touch with our bodies and our place in the living fabric of life.
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Picnic with Phipps
Thurs., April 18 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Presented as live webinar through Zoom
$30 members | $35 nonmembers
Join Chef Emily Larsen of Spilling the Soup for this virtual class inspired by Phipps’ Spring Flower Show, Picnic with Phipps. In this virtual class, Chef Emily will prepare a smokey eggplant panini, a pickled baby corn salad, a mini fruit and cheese plate and jammy pinwheel cookies! You’ll be ready for picnic season!
What Your Trees Wish You Knew | Andrew Tomaskovic
Sat., April 20 | 9 a.m. – Noon
Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park
$25 members | $30 nonmembers
Healthy trees provide unmatched beauty and grandeur in the landscape. To keep them around for the long-term, we need to make informed choices about their care and the actions we take in the spaces they occupy. Understanding the basics of tree biology and structural stability will be key. Join Board-Certified Master Arborist Andrew Tomaskovic for an introductory lesson in tree health and structure, and fundamentally improve your interactions with your trees for the better.
Knotweed Paper Making
Mon., April 22 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park
$30 members | $35 nonmembers | $10 material fee
In this class, you will get hands-on with the texture, natural color, and unpredictability of Japanese Knotweed paper pulp. Make sheets of paper or even create three-dimensional works from knotweed pulp. From there, you can incorporate natural inclusions such as dried petals, grasses, colored raffia, etc. to enhance your creations.
Waste Not Dinner
Tues., April 23 | 6 – 8 p.m.
Botany Hall Teaching Kitchen
$75 members | $80 nonmembers
Join us in Botany Hall Kitchen for this demonstration style dinner on minimizing food waste. Learn all the tricks for using the bits and pieces that are usually thrown away with Chef Rachel Homan. In this demo style class, the chef will transform your typical kitchen scraps like herb stems, citrus peels and vegetable scraps into a gourmet meal. Learn how to use whatever’s left over for homemade broths and compotes.
Shinrin Yoku Guided Forest Therapy Walk: Shortened | Martha O'Gray
Sat., April 23 | 12:30 – 3 p.m.
Meets at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden
$15 members | $20 nonmembers
Come join Forest Awakenings for a relaxing nature retreat shaped by the Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku. Join this shortened version of our popular forest therapy walk, where we’ll slow down and connect with the More Than Human World in a deeper, more intimate way. Following a research-based process, we’ll get in touch with our bodies and our place in the living fabric of life.
Turning Peels into Meals
Wed., April 24 | 6 – 8 p.m.
Botany Hall Teaching Kitchen
$55 members | $60 nonmembers
Are you interested in learning how to extend the life of your kitchen scraps? Join us in Botany Hall Kitchen for a lesson on reclaiming typical things you throw away when cooking. From broccoli stalks to onion skin and used lemons to apple cores, all food destined for the compost bin can be squeezed a bit more to create another meal before it's thrown for good. Lexy Baird will lead a class about food waste where we will make and take home veggie scrap bouillon, fruit scrap vinegar, stem & core pesto and more. Come ready to learn and taste something new!
Arbor Day Nature Journaling
Thurs., April 25 and May 2 | 6 – 9 p.m.
Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park
$100 members | $120 nonmembers
Love the trees of Spring? Would you like to get to know them better? This 2 session workshop will give you the chance to study the structure, seasonal changes and a tree’s all important role for a healthy Earth! Visually observing and sketching in a journal with guided instruction may start you on a path to enjoying Nature’s beauty and healthful benefits.
