Happy Arbor Day!

Today’s the big day! Go outside. Explore nature. Plant trees.

Arbor Day is the day to celebrate trees. Many communities throughout the country will be planting trees on today in observance of Arbor Day 2009. Trees help make our communities healthier, more vibrant and, obviously, more beautiful.

Arbor Day began 137 years ago in Nebraska City, Neb. J. Sterling Morton, the father of Arbor Day, helped organize the very first Arbor Day back in 1872, and more than a million trees were added to the Nebraska prairie that day.

This year the Arbor Day Foundation took part in our own local Arbor Day celebration, helping the City of Lincoln plant trees in a neighborhood park.

So how did you celebrate Arbor Day? Let us know!

Hardiness Zones

Tom Christopher of the New York Botanical Garden writes an interesting blog called Green Perspectives. Recently, he shared some of his thoughts on hardiness zone maps. You can read about them here: http://www.nybg.org/wordpress2/?p=215.

What Tree Is That? Now Available

Ever wonder what species of tree is growing in your backyard? Or have you ever walked by a beautiful tree in your neighborhood, at a park or on the golf course and wanted to know what you’re looking at?

Now you can, thanks to the new tree identification book, What Tree Is That?: A guide to the more common trees of North America. The book is published by the Arbor Day Foundation, and is an ideal resource to help you identify trees in a simple step-by-step process.

What Tree Is That? will help people identify more than 250 species of trees that live and grow in North America. It also features advanced, hand-drawn botanical illustrations of many distinctive characteristics of many trees in full color.

What Tree Is That? is now available at www.arborday.org, and in book stores throughout the United States. This is the perfect gift for tree enthusiasts, nature lovers, golfers and people who love to spend time outdoors.

Trees for Success

The 2009 Trees for Success campaign kicked off this week with tree-planting events in Houston; Austin, Texas; and Nashville.

Only 13 cities across the United States were selected to receive trees during the Trees for Success campaign, which is a partnership between the Arbor Day Foundation and The Home Depot Foundation. During the campaign, more than 1,000 trees will be planted in schools, public parks and neighborhoods this spring throughout the United States. Students, local community partners and volunteers from The Home Depot take part in the tree-planting events. The goal is to engage students in creating healthier communities by planting trees.

Trees for Success events will also take place in Detroit; Fairbanks, Alaska; Lincoln, Neb.; Miami, Midwest City, Okla.; Minneapolis; Ogden, Utah; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; and Reading, Pa.

For more information about the 2009 Trees for Success campaign, go to http://www.arborday.org/programs/events/homedepot/.

Vote Online for Your Favorite Arbor Day Poster

Don’t forget to vote … in the 2009 National Arbor Day Poster Contest! For the first time, you can help select a finalist for the National Arbor Day Poster Contest presented by Toyota.

Online voting for the poster contest begins Monday, March 30, at www.arborday.org/postercontest. The online voting period will end on Friday, April 3. The poster that receives the most online votes will automatically move on to the final round of judging. The winner of the 2009 National Arbor Day Poster Contest will be named on, naturally, National Arbor Day, which is April 24 this year.

Learn more about the poster contest, and see past winners here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy_jgCJsYec

Make sure you vote!

Here is the winning entry by Michelle Holiman of Stilwell, Okla., of the 2008 National Arbor Day Poster Contest