When the weather outside gets colder, the woods become a new world to explore. Many trees drop their leaves, revealing nests hidden high in the branches and bringing new life to the forest floor. Conifers, on the other hand, thrive in cold weather and remain green all year long.

You’ll want to plant yourself at Discovery Place Nature in November to learn all there is to know about the fantastic fall flora of the Carolinas.

Special programing you don’t want to miss

On November 12, Museum guests will have the opportunity to meet Mecklenburg County’s lone North Carolina Game Warden. Sampson Parker keeps watch over out county’s wildlife and habitat and you don’t want to miss him talk about his work, including some interesting encounters and adventures he has had over the years. This event is a part of our ongoing CROWN Lecture Series and kicks off at 6:30 p.m.

Get to the Museum on Saturday, November 23, for our Longleaf Pine Day celebration. As mentioned above, the longleaf pine is the State tree of North Carolina. This beautiful tree used to dominate forests from Texas to Virginia and was a valuable source of lumber for colonists. Not only was the tree used for its timber, it was also a valuable source of pitch and tar for Navy ship building, giving rise to the nickname “The Tarheel State.” Unfortunately, the range of the longleaf pine has been reduced by nearly 97 percent, and some of the iconic plant and animal species that evolved with the tree are on the verge of extinction. On this particular day, we’ll get hands on, hear from experts and learn how to become involved with longleaf pine restoration.

Daily activities abound

The Museum kicks off its flora festival with Autumn Art on November 2 and November 6. Join us as we gather up the most colorful leaves we can find and let our creativity run wild. Autumn is the perfect time to get outside and have fun with fallen leaves!

Then, on November 9 and November 13, help us Find the Pine as we learn about the State tree of North Carolina – the longleaf pine. We’ll share a fun story and you can make your own maps to take home as we prepare for our even bigger celebration later in the month.

Flora and fauna’s close cousin will be on display on November 16 and November 20 in Exploring Forest Fungi. Thousands of species of fungi are discovered every year. At this event, you can uncover the wonders of fungi on a guided nature walk along our Paw Paw Nature Trail, where there could be a whole new species just waiting to be discovered!

Grow your forest knowledge on November 27 and November 30 at Carolina Conifers, where we will investigate pinecones to learn the special secret each one hides and even make pinecone birdfeeders to take home.