Participants can take a walk on UNC campus

From staff reports

CHAPEL HILL -- Several programs are in the offing from the N.C. Botanical Garden that may appeal to a variety of interests.

The garden, whose roots stem to the turn of the 20th century, encompasses several natural areas and display gardens on some 700 acres of land. It is nationally known for its conservation and part of the garden's mission includes educational programs. In keeping with that mission, the following are being offered:

n A Winter Walk in the Footsteps of William Lanier Hunt will be held on the UNC Campus from 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 5.

William L. Hunt was a horticulturist, garden designer, writer and lecturer who educated and entertained audiences throughout the South. Beginning in his student days at UNC in the mid-1920s, Hunt praised the landscapes and plants of the UNC Campus, describing them frequently in his newspaper garden columns.

In 1990, he initiated a winter walking tour of the campus to share his enthusiasm -- particularly for the fine collection of holly species and cultivars and other broadleaf evergreens for which the South is renowned.

Ken Moore, retired from a long career at the N.C. Botanical Garden and now writing "Flora" columns for The Carrboro Citizen, honors Hunt's love of the campus landscape and its heritage by tracing his footsteps and stopping to recall stories of plants and people from the past.

The fee for this event is $10 ($5 for N.C. Botanical Garden members & UNC students). To sign up call 962-0522, Monday through Friday.

n Winter Owl Prowls will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on two Fridays: Dec. 4 and 11.

Local owls are back in the neighborhood, looking for their mates and getting their nests ready for a new family. Join staff of the Piedmont Wildlife Center on a nighttime expedition to listen and look for signs of screech, barred and great horned owls.

Christopher the barred owl and Houdini the screech owl (rescued by the wildlife center), will stop by for a visit to give you an up-close and personal view of some live owls. Learn why owls are so important to the environment and what you can do to help protect them.

The fee for this event is $15 ($10 for N.C. Botanical Garden and PWC members). You must call Piedmont Wildlife Center to register for an owl prowl: (919) 489-0900.

n Free tours of the North Carolina Botanical Garden will be held at 10 a.m. Saturdays, Dec. 5, Jan. 2, and Feb. 6.

Join a North Carolina Botanical Garden curator for an informative tour of the display gardens in winter: evergreen shrubs and trees, seed pods, berries, bark, and buds of the state's native plants. Tours meet in front of the Totten Center. Call 962-0522 for more information or click on http://ncbg.unc.edu