Since 1982 parents, students, and staff have planted and cared for these plants in our outdoor classroom/ nature center:


A sincere thank you to Jane Hanscom of the Uxbridge Gardening Club for her assistance in plant identification and providing information.


Cornus Florida Alba
White Flowering Dogwood
Small tree native to North American woodlands. Early spring showy white flower followed by scarlet fruit and bright red fall foliage. Provides nest sites and fruit for birds. Likes acid soil.
  • Flowering Dogwood

    Buddleia Davidii
    Black Knight Buddleia
    Long clusters of deep violet flowers on drooping stems attract butterflies, July-August. Silvery-gray foliage. Use for tall borders, backgrounds. Plant in full sun 36" apart. Grows to 10 feet.
  • Buddleia

    Mimosa pudica
    Sensitive Plant
    The sensitive plant, Mimosa pudica, is a small, tropical shrub native to Brazil that is often grown as a houseplant. Belonging to the pea family, Leguminoseae, it produces spherical clusters of small, pink flowers and has fernlike leaves that quickly fold together if touched and then slowly resume their original form.
  • Sensitive Plant

    Euonymus Latus Compactus
    Burning Bush
    Bushy shrub native to China and Japan, with inconspicuous spring flower and brilliant red fall foliage. Red fruit persists into winter providing food for birds. Acid to neutral soil and full sun.
  • Burning Bush

    Syringa Vulgaris
    Common Lilac
    Tall shrub member ofolive family, native to East Asia and Western Europe with showy fragrant flowers appearing in mid-spring in various colors. Nest site for birds. Likes lime soil (ph 6-8) and full sun. Spreads by means of underground shoots.
  • Lilacs


    Forsythia Intermedia
    Golden Bells
    a mound shaped shrub native to Asia with brilliant yellow early spring flowers. Nest site. Prune older wood after flowering; likes any soil and full sun; branches can be brought indoors in winter to force early flowers.
  • Forsythias

    Acer Rubrum
    Red or Swamp Maple
    Tall, grey barked tree native to North Ameria showing brilliant red, orange and yellow foliage. Acid soil, nest site. Spring seed pods twirl as they fall like helicopters.
  • Red or Swamp Maple

    Acer Platonoides
    Norway Maple
    Native to Norway, showing bright yellow spring flowers and yellow fall foliage. Nest site.
  • Norway Maple

    Acer Platonoides
    Crimson King
    dark maroon leaves, milky sap at base of leaf stalk. Maple keys have wings. Yellowish or light green flowers appear before foliage.
  • Crimson King

    Acer Saccharinum
    Silver Maple
    ornamental tree, grows on river banks. Silvery white on the underside, leaves turn yellow in autumn.
  • Silver Maple

    Acer Saccharum
    Sugar Maple
    Tall brown barked native to central and northern North America. Famous for its red and gold fall foliage and sweet sap which can be boiled in early spring to make syrup and candy. Severely affected by acid rain.
  • Sugar Maple

    Malus
    Flowering Crabapple
    Flowering crab apple is a deciduous flowering tree that grows 15 to 25 feet tall. It produces abundant clusters of white to pink or purplish single flowers and yellow, orange or red to purple fruits that are 2 inches or smaller. Some species bloom only in alternate years. The flowering branches often make attractive cut flowers.
  • Flowering Crab Apple

    gleditsia 'shademaster'
    honeylocust
    Thornless honey locusts grow at a rapid pace: planted at 6 to 8 feet, they usually become 20 to 25 feet tall in five or six years. At maturity they vary in height from 35 to 70 feet, depending on the variety chosen, and usually spread to about an equal distance. The fernlike leaves, 6 to 10 inches long, emerge from their buds late in spring; during summer they cast a filtered shade in which it is easy to grow grass. In fall the leaves turn pale yellow and disintegrate as they drop, so that raking is hardly ever necessary. The bark on both the branches and the trunks of thornless honey locusts becomes nearly black as the trees mature, in winter providing a dramatic contrast in a snowy garden.
  • Honeylocust

  • Time Life Plant Encyclopedia
  • Walk-Through Rock Garden Plants
  • Field Guide
  • School Yard as a Research Environment
  • Plan Team
  • Research Arms
  • Project History
  • Massachusetts Cultural Council Partnership Planning Grant 1996-97
  • Massachusetts Department of Education Planning Grant 1996-97
  • Implementing the State Curriculum Frameworks
  • Curriculum Strands
  • Concept Boards
  • Exhibits for the Courtyard
  • Exhibit Loaning Center
  • Blackstone River Monument
  • R. Buckminster Fuller
  • A Community Partnership
  • Explorers
  • Design Team
  • Stained Glass Orb
  • All You Need Is Love
  • Index