FONA Field Notes

Betty Brown Casey, a DC philanthropist who was the visionary and benefactor behind Casey Trees, passed away on August 17th, 2022. She also supported FONA and the Arboretum.

Tickets and tables are selling quickly for our 26th Annual Dinner Under the Stars! Join us Tuesday, September 20th to enjoy cocktails in the National Arboretum’s Ellipse Meadow and a tented…

National Avocado Day was this past Sunday — but how did this popular fruit come to the United States in the first place? David Fairchild was an agricultural explorer who…

Our garden team has harvested 2,760 pounds of produce from Washington Youth Garden so far this year! That’s over 550 pounds more than we had harvested this time last year.

Take a walk through plant evolution with Dr. Richard Olsen, Director of the National Arboretum, in a recent GardenDC podcast episode. Dr. Olsen discusses the evolutionary history of ancient plants…

J.C. Raulston not only founded the arboretum at North Carolina State University that now bears his name, but he was also a highly accomplished gay horticulturist who cultivated a community…

Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating Washington Youth Garden’s 50th anniversary last week! We are extremely grateful to the hundreds of people attended our celebrations. We honored those…

FONA is thrilled to congratulate Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young on her confirmation as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In this new role,…

Celebrate summer with us at the National Arboretum! We’re collaborating with lots of local partners to host exciting activities and events, including…

DC9 was officially named over Memorial Day weekend! The American Eagle Foundation held a poll with various name options, and the winning name was Takoda. This name means “friend for all” in…