StoryWalk trail, Public Garden Week at Burden

BATON ROUGE — The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden will hold a grand opening for StoryWalk at 10 a.m. on May 11.
StoryWalk is a new feature at Burden designed for families to enjoy together by reading a children’s story while walking through the woods.
StoryWalk is intended to encourage childhood literacy by providing pages of books on signposts along a wooded trail, said Becky White, a volunteer at Burden who retired from the LSU AgCenter as a family development specialist.
“The meandering trail will have pages of a storybook on individual signposts,” White said. “The books will be changed out four times a year.”
With financial support from the Junior League of Baton Rouge and in-kind support from Vivid Ink, the project will encourage both learning and outdoor recreation, she said.
The grand-opening celebration will include a book reading of “Please Please the Bees” and craft activities and snacks for children ages 3 to 8.
The event is open to the public at no charge.
Burden will join with more than 500 gardens nationwide in celebrating National Public Gardens Week on May 13-17.
“The annual, weeklong event represents a commitment to emphasizing the important role public gardens across the country play in promoting education and exposure to our environment as well as our gardens,” said Jeff Kuehny, resident director at Burden.
The week will feature activities for all ages themed around the importance of the environment. Educational sessions will be held in the Ione E. Burden Conference Center, and local organizations will provide information on various plants.
Each day will focus on a particular aspect of the garden:
—Monday will be specialty gardens day.
—Tuesday will be family garden day with emphasis on the pollinator and herb gardens.
—Wednesday will be farm day, with a hay ride and presentations on vegetables, ornamental plants and orchards.
—Thursday will be volunteer appreciation day, an invitation-only event to recognize LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens volunteers.
—Friday will be historical garden day with tours of Windrush Gardens.
The event is free and open to the public. National Public Gardens Week is a program supported by the American Public Gardens Assoc-iation.