Rhode Islanders Helping to Restore the American Chestnut

Our speaker Yvonne Federowicz is a Master Gardener and the former President of the RI/MA Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation as well as the current Project Leader for the University of Rhode Island (URI) Chestnut Orchard Research Project.  She will discuss  the latest developments and findings of this research project to help save the  American chestnut tree, an essential component of the entire eastern US Ecosystem, especially for its role in pollination and in providing a food source for native wildlife.

This on-going 30-year project involves four orchards designed to help develop blight resistant hybrid chestnut trees that will also maintain the genetic diversity of this species.  Other foundations and organizations collaborating in this project include the South Kingstown Trust, The Burrillville Land Trust, The URI Master Gardener Program, MA/RI Chapter of the The American Chestnut Foundation, The Westerly Land Trust, and the South County Garden Club contribute to this project.

All talks in the Beechwood Lecture series are offered at no charge and are open to the public but space is limited.  Master Gardeners who attend can receive educational volunteer hours.

If interested in attending, please contact the Volunteer/Program Coordinator’s Office at The Beechwood Center for Life Enrichment at 401-268-1594; or email the office at  mdubois@northkingstown.org to reserve  a space.

Beechwood Center is located at 44 Beach Street; North Kingstown, RI 02852  Google Driving Directions

We are also excited to announce a potion of our upcoming 2023 Lecture Series!  We have another great group of speakers lined up for next year who will certainly be dynamic and educational.  We thank you all for attending this past year and hope that you will join us again in 2023!

2/15/23       Residential Forest Care – TBD

4/19/23       What’s New in RI’s Residential Nursery  –  Sandee Andrew, The Rose Shack

6/21/23       BioBlitz  – David Gregg, Ph.D., Exec. Dir., RI Natural History Survey

8/16/23       Designing Sustainable Gardens withShade-Loving Native Plants  – Karen Asher, RI Wild Plant Society

10/18/23     TBD