A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas

Autumn Leaf Peepin’ in Bentonville

• Visit Bentonville • Season 17 • Episode 31

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Dive into the natural beauty of Bentonville this fall with guests Samantha Best from Crystal Bridges Museum + Arboredum and Megan Love from Compton Gardens. 


Discover the wonders of fall in Northwest Arkansas, from changing foliage to wildlife preparation for winter. Learn about arboretums, native plants, and how to be a good steward of outdoor spaces. 


Whether you're a local or planning a visit, this episode of "A New American Town" offers insider tips on experiencing the best of Bentonville's autumn splendor.



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Beth Bobbitt :

Welcome to A New American Town presented by Visit Bentonville. I'm your host, beth Bobbitt, broadcasting from Haxton Road Studios, and today we welcome Samantha Best from Crystal Bridges and Megan Love from Compton Gardens. So thank you both for being on the show today. And to start with, let's talk about your background, how you each became interested in the outdoors special training. Samantha, you want to start with you.

Samantha Best:

Sure. So it was definitely not a straightforward path. So I actually went to art school. I have a degree in photography. I then became a television editor and decided that being surrounded by dark monitors eight hours, 10 hours a day was not for me. So I went back to an experience that I had in college, working at a greenhouse where I was taking care of the herbs. There was something about that that just stuck with me for a very long time and I realized there was a career path in landscape architecture that existed out in the world that I'd never known about. So basically, I went back to school for landscape architecture, met my husband during that period, we just started a landscape architecture and construction company and now I'm in Arkansas.

Samantha Best:

And so this was all in the Northeast, on the East Coast, so Arkansas is a fairly new place for me and I absolutely love it, oh, wow.

Beth Bobbitt :

Thank you for sharing, Meagan. How about you?

Meagan Love:

Well, I started my journey when I was about 15. I joined my local FFA high school group and had an amazing ag science teacher who got me involved in landscaping and plants and horticulture and from that moment on I got my first job in a nursery greenhouse and I've been doing it for about 28 years now, Got a degree in horticulture with production management and science research Wow, very different paths that led you to here, so I love it all.

Beth Bobbitt :

Megan, let's start with your title. I love how descriptive it is. So site manager and then foresting for the future tree program manager. Can you talk a little bit about what that means and what a typical day might look like for you?

Meagan Love:

Sure, so I'm the site manager at Compton Gardens and Arboretum, which is a seven-acre site here in downtown Bentonville with all native plants, and I manage the grounds. So, from the landscaping to the landscape maintenance, we also grow the majority of our plants on site, so that's very exciting as well. So we have a greenhouse and all that fun stuff. And then Foresting the Future is a wonderful program that helps facilitate planting trees in public spaces all throughout Benton County as well, as we help facilitate communities with free tree giveaways to all their citizens. So I manage the execution of that program.

Beth Bobbitt :

Wow, I know that's a day everybody marks on their calendar locally. It's really great. Thank you for doing that. Samantha, talk a little bit about you mentioned you just recently were promoted. Talk about you. Know why the name change outdoor experience. That covers so much more and what a day in the life looks like for you at Crystal Bridges.

Samantha Best:

Yeah, well, we have three pillars at Crystal Bridges architecture and nature and so what I'd really like to say is that my role is to elevate the nature pillar and certainly there's an amazing team that I work with our trails and grounds team that helped me do that.

Samantha Best:

So we do everything from landscape design on the grounds to master planning, to tours, talking to people like you, really anything we can do to promote the outdoor experience on our grounds. So it's very much about kind of an indoor outdoor connection. You know we have 33 sculptures on our trails, so if you would prefer to be outside and see art, you can do that. If you want to go inside, it's very easy to access from our trails to go inside the museum and still have that indoor-outdoor connection. So a day for me could be anything from doing a planting plan to giving a school tour to writing about what's happening on the grounds. I'm really lucky in that I actually get to work with every single one of our departments, because really all of our departments use our trails Right right, so important, and I don't know if people realize there's so much art along the trails.

Beth Bobbitt :

And of course it's all free. You know that's accessible. So let's I guess let's back up a little bit and talk about arboretums in Bentonville. What's available to the public? What offerings does that entail? Yeah, you want to start with that.

Samantha Best:

Sure, well, thinking about the fact that we are a museum, and when I was explaining to people what it meant to be an arboretum, I like to look at it as a museum for trees, and I think what it really kind of an arboretum, I like to look at it as a museum for trees, and I think what it really kind of signals to the community is our commitment to taking care of the land that we sit on, that we occupy, and so for me, it's really a place where people can understand that the landscape is so varied. So we've embarked on a tree inventory and it's been amazing to see the variety of species that we have on our land and what you find in one area, really you know 500 feet away, you won't find in another area. So it's really an opportunity for people to learn about the trees that we have within Northwest Arkansas, but certainly within this small ecosystem that we have on our grounds, and learn how to use them and bring them into their own lives. Right, yeah 120 acres?

Beth Bobbitt :

Yes, is that correct? Yeah, megan, what about you? You touched on it a little bit.

Meagan Love:

Yeah, I agree with Samantha, I think it's definitely like a museum for trees, and Compton is a level two arboretum, which means that we have over 100 species of tree and woody ornamentals on site, all different species. Loves nature to be able to just pop over in an urban area and see so much diversification in our you know, ecosystem or ecology that we have just right here in town and to be able to experience that. I think it's really, it's really delightful.

Beth Bobbitt :

yeah so we should, I guess, clarify that we're sort of in a transition from summer to fall, but really want to talk about fall experiences at large. So, first of all, what's happening with our trees and plants from like a scientific perspective? You know what are we seeing? The changing colors. Can you just surface level talk about that?

Meagan Love:

Yeah, I can so kind of on the scientific level right now. The nitty gritty is, you know, as your daylight changes, as your precipitation changes, as your temperature changes, it triggers plants to kind of go through its own type of thought process, right. So right now a lot of the trees and the shrubs are done flowering. They are like, for example, like the walnuts and the pecan trees right now. They put so much energy and effort into that next generation. They're starting to drop all the nuts and the seeds on the ground and they're basically getting ready for that nice quiet time of winter where they can shut down and it's like just this great little respite for trees and shrubs in our environment to take that time.

Meagan Love:

So you'll start to see all these things go through their color changes and then slowly start to defoliate and you know, some people might not enjoy having giant walnuts falling all over the place, but that's what trees are doing right now.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah, it's a little extra effort for those of us that live in the forest, but it's beautiful, and for folks that have never been to Northwest Arkansas or Bentonville in the fall, I mean there's no best time to come. But this is really it, this is where we show off and it's just absolutely gorgeous. It's cool, it's. You know, there's so many hiking experiences. Samantha, talk a little bit about kind of the best time in your, in your view, to come to Crystal Bridges to see kind of the full fall colors.

Samantha Best:

To see the full fall colors. I mean, I think we're a couple weeks out from that really. As Megan was talking, I was laughing to myself, thinking the plants are all so tired. We have long hot summers here, sometimes dry, and I think they're ready to kind of move on to cooler weather. But I was also thinking about some of the things that are what I consider really exciting finds. So our Paw Paw trees are fruited up. So if you're lucky enough to find a stand of pawpaw trees, you might be able to find those fruits. I have a real soft spot for persimmon trees. So the persimmons they're not quite ready to eat, as I learned the hard way, but they're there and they're getting ready. I've been seeing monarchs. I don't know if you've been seeing them, megan, but we've been seeing the monarchs make their way down to their winter grounds, still seeing hummingbirds again, kind of getting the last stores of their energy before they migrate. So it's a pretty fun time to just see how everything the plants, the animals, the insects they're all getting ready for that winter. Yeah.

Samantha Best:

That we know is coming.

Meagan Love:

Yeah, All that activity is fun to watch, especially when you're seeing like all the little squirrels running around all the chipmunks grabbing up their little food storages, tucking them away, you know, burying them in bed spaces, and we have lots of deer on our property that we share with Crystal Bridges. Thank you and you know you're starting to see like those young bucks with their little spikes and all that stuff roaming around and it just makes you go.

Samantha Best:

Oh yeah, it's getting that time and even like the acorns and the different nuts. So you can start identifying all the different oaks we have just by the acorns that are dropping. So I love our chinkapin oaks, which we have a lot of. On Crystal Bridges they have this amazing, almost black acorn which I had never seen before I moved here. It's shiny, it's beautiful, they fall on people's heads all the time and they're edible, and a lot of our acorns are edible. So there's this whole foraging aspect that is also happening right now, right, any?

Beth Bobbitt :

favorites, like native plants, trees. Oh, that's a loaded question yeah.

Meagan Love:

I do have a soft spot for the pawpaw tree for sure, because it's got the most delightful little blossom and you know the zebra swallowtail it's a host plant for that, so it's always exciting when you catch a glimpse of one of those fluttering around. So I do, really do enjoy pawpaws. I also have a soft spot for this is not a tree or a shrub, but butterfly milkweed, like I really love that plant. It's beautiful, it's vibrant, it's everlasting.

Samantha Best:

So those are just a couple of my top favorites. Love it it, I definitely have a soft spot for the persimmons?

Samantha Best:

yeah, I really do, because the one thing that I've really come to understand about plants here is that there's not only the ecological value but there's the cultural value. So many of these plants are really culturally important to the Ozarks and to the people who've been here for generations. It's really fun when you start to dig into the history of plants and how they've been used for food or medicine or how they exist within the ecosystem. That's been really fun.

Beth Bobbitt :

Is that the one that if you open up and you can either see what is it the nice?

Meagan Love:

fork spoon yes.

Beth Bobbitt :

Have we done that yet? Do we know what we're in for this winter?

Meagan Love:

I don't think it's time yet to split the seeds, yeah well, stay tuned for part two.

Beth Bobbitt :

So what's happening on the forest floor? You talked a little bit about it, but describe the wildlife and what birds are doing and what folks might be seeing this time of year.

Meagan Love:

I think you'll be seeing a lot of foraging, like what they do every day, and of course they're the ones that you know, your squirrels. They make their little stockpiles of things, chipmunks as well, and I read a really interesting thing the other day that chipmunks, when they go into hibernation, they will actually sleep for a couple of days and wake up for a day, and sleep a couple of days and go out and forage. That sounds nice. So you can expect to see a lot of that. There is still some insects doing their thing, and I'm trying to think if there's a whole lot of other things going on out there. Birds we have a lot of migratory birds right now. You're going to see more and more of that happening. We're bringing in a lot of gold finches that are enjoying all the seeds, from the purple coneflower to other various things that are starting to seed out this time of year, so you'll be getting a lot of glimpses of those as we go further into fall.

Samantha Best:

And Megan, I was just thinking too. When the weather gets cooler and a little bit more moist, you'll see kind of the fall sprouting of mushrooms. So I know in the fall we've found chanterelles, I found blue indigo milk caps on property which are so cool. So there's definitely a whole nother mushroom explosion. That will happen once the weather cools a little bit more.

Beth Bobbitt :

And what are the best months for mushroom foraging here?

Meagan Love:

I think in the springtime it's usually about April-ish and then as we go into fall. Yeah, it's very weather dependent too. It has a lot to do with temperature and moisture.

Beth Bobbitt :

Okay, so tips for how we can all be really good stewards of the outdoor spaces generally as we go about, you know, visiting some of these, some of these museums and outdoor forest.

Samantha Best:

Well, I think, if you're a visitor, I think really sort of respecting the pathways that have been set up for you to enjoy. I think it's just sometimes a struggle to keep people where we want them, and there's usually a reason for that. It's not because we're trying to, you know, control how their visit goes, but it's more about usually there's ecological reasons. We're trying to prevent erosion, we're trying to protect sensitive places. So I think for me personally, that perspective of just respecting the paths that have been given to you because there's a reason for that, is an important thing to kind of keep in mind. Good.

Meagan Love:

I agree with that for sure. You know, and I think too, like within our spaces we have so many visitors and not just walkers, but we have runners and cyclists and one wheelers and skateboarders, and it's just being mindful of the people around you and the space that you're in and um, a lot of times it's. It would just be super beneficial if you know people were more considerate of the spaces that they're visiting and just know that you know there might be something up ahead that you need to be a little bit more watchful for. So I think that makes you a really good steward if you're just kind of aware of who you are and where you're at and you know kindness and being polite, good old Southern type traditions.

Beth Bobbitt :

You're right, right, I love that. So I'm curious what are you both doing at home to prepare for the winter? What do your outdoor spaces look like? Obviously, we need to be ready to cover plants when it gets cold. What else can we?

Meagan Love:

do gardening. I approach it in different ways, but at my house I'm a little bit more of. I guess it would be non-traditional nowadays is I don't really touch anything, I just let it go to bed. I leave all the anything that dies back and down to the ground. It goes to sleep, like your perennials and stuff. I just let it lie. And if I have leaves in the yard I'll pile the leaves up onto the flower beds and, kind of you know, create some more insulation throughout the winter and I just let it lie. And there's a purpose for that is because there are a lot of insects types of bees as well that will hibernate in stems of plants and things of that nature. So I just let it be, and usually probably by the end of May and next year I'll start doing some cleanup.

Beth Bobbitt :

Right. Well, for those of us who enjoy procrastinating the yard cleanup, that's nice to hear. Samantha, what about you? What are you doing this time of year?

Samantha Best:

I agree with Megan 100%. I think as gardeners sometimes we have this feeling that we have to clean things up and take control of what's happening outside, but really nature doesn't need us. So I think paying more attention to the systems that are working is really beneficial to being a good gardener. So I don't have much of a garden right now, but in my old house I approached it the same way I just let everything stay up and then come spring I would do more cleanup at that time.

Beth Bobbitt :

Perfect. I love that. So we're going to jump to our wrap-up question. This has been so much fun. We ask all our guests if you had a dream day in Bentonville, what would that look like for you and your family? I assume you're out in nature. Walk us through what that would look like.

Meagan Love:

Megan, I actually made some notes on this because I had to sit there and daydream with all this extra free time on the weekends is, you know, I would love to wake up when I want to wake up, you know, and that could be if I wake up at six, I'm happy with that. If I wake up at nine, totally happy with that. You know, go to the farmer's market, get a good coffee, eat a really good pastry, that would be the best jumpstart to my day. And then I would really love to find a place that is just quiet, peaceful, with water and, you know, nice stream and nice creek and nice river, and just kind of plop down and enjoy listening to all the sounds around me Almost listening to the silence would be nice as well, and that would probably be my ideal day. That's beautiful, just the decompression, yeah, yeah, wow.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah, a lot of us want to over-program and over-curate the experience, but just being in nature sounds lovely. What about you?

Samantha Best:

A nice brunch, so brunch with my family, and then we absolutely love Kohler, so to go there and spend the day mountain bike riding and then sitting by the creek that goes through there, getting some coffee sitting on the swings at the cafe there, that is just so joyous. And then getting a babysitter for my boys, going out for a really nice dinner with my husband and, who knows, maybe even going to the museum at night, when I can be there as a guest well strictly a guest.

Beth Bobbitt :

Totally different experience totally different experience.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yes, yes, we were at Kohler this weekend. It was so fun just to sit up on the rooftop of air shut and, you know, watch people enjoying Bentonville. It's beautiful. Well, thank you both, megan and Samantha. You guys were amazing. We'll keep an eye out on what's happening around us. I think your tips were valuable and make a plan to visit Pilcompton Gardens and Crystal Bridges this fall to see the full colors. And don't forget, visit Bentonville is here to help you navigate things to do, where to eat and stay and what's going on in our new American town. Give us a follow on social media, sign up for our newsletter and check out our website at visitbentonvillecom. Thanks for listening.