The Belser Arboretum will continue its highly successful monthly Open House program again in 2008. These events are held for the Sherwood Forest Community and other interested individuals on the third Sunday of each month from 1-4 pm. Members of the Sherwood Forest Community and of the USC Arboretum staff will greet visitors at the Bloomwood Gate and the Wilmot Gate; they will help direct you to the points of interest and answer any questions you may have.

A series of workshops will be held in an informal format with a theme for the next 6 months of "Environmental Awareness". A large poster on the specific theme for the day will be mounted in the Lower Classroom from 1-4 pm, near the lower waterfall and spring. Dr. DeCoursey, the Arboretum Director, will be at the poster from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm to answer any questions or to hear about your plant and animal interests. The specific topic for the February 17 Open House will be Kudzu vine, often referred to as "The cancer of Planet Earth". The exhibit will display a huge kudzu tuber, excavated in the recent brush clearing activities in the the jungle-like "Human-disturbed Forest" area adjacent to the Arboretum House. The tuber and its multiple 50-foot radiating ground cables are an astonishing example of one of the most aggressive non-native plants ever introduced into the United States. We will discuss why it is of pivotal concern to control kudzu, what areas are infested in Columbia, does the vine threaten your property, and how it can best be controlled.

The Arboretum staff tries to show-case one new restoration project in the Arboretum for each Open House. Featured in February will be our brand new simulated Ice Age Relict Forest. This enchanting garden of rododendrons, rare native azaleas, mountain laurel, Galax, pawpaw trees, beech trees, and the rare silky camelia (Stewartia) requires deep, richly organic soil, plentiful moisture, dense shade, and above all a very cool daytime summer temperature. All of of these species are normally found in the Appalachian mountains or in northern latitudes but special conditions in the Arboretum in one small mini-ravine have made possible a simulated Ice Age garden.

The Arboretum will also initiate its Endowment Program at the February Open House. This Endowment will insure perpetual care of the Arboretum as well as the development of new programs by means of a permanent USC staff position for an Arboretum Manager. We will have our new Endowment brochure available and will answer any questions about how visitors can help us in this program.