Whether you’re an avid gardener or just enjoy taking in the sights and sounds of a local public garden, we all have experiences and memories shaped by the gardens and green spaces around us. Today, amidst a renewed interest in greening our communities and our own backyards, gardens continue to help us understand the American experience.

Community of Gardens, a digital archive hosted by Smithsonian Gardens, is an online platform designed to help preserve our diverse garden heritage through everyday garden stories. Your participation in this project will contribute to the story of gardening in America and may one day enable historians, landscape architects, artists, designers, and garden enthusiasts to learn from and be inspired by the ways that gardens and gardeners of all backgrounds have shaped America’s landscape.

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Tell Us Your Garden Story!

Whether it’s the story of your own or neighborhood community garden, the memory of a family member’s garden, or a plant that plays a meaningful role in your life, we want to hear (and see) your garden stories!

Share Your Garden Story

Featured Garden Stories

The formal Japanese teahouse at the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden

Camellia japonica at the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden

This little gem is located in Pasadena, California originally designed in the mid 1930s. The garden has recently been restored, remaining true to its original pre-war design.

1. Lewis Hall at the Village Commons (the gathering mecca at the Cashiers community). Sara Gaines, photographer.

The Village Green Conservancy ~ A Park in the Dawn and the Dark

One of the most well-kept secrets in the mountains of North Carolina is The Village Green Conservancy, Inc., a 501C3 purlieu in Cashiers, an unincorporated village.

Burns Science & Technology Charter School Green Ambassadors

Burns Science and Technology Charter School Green Ambassadors

When the Oak Hill city commission accepted the challenge from our Volusia County Council to create a “Green Space”, they donated 2.7 acres for this project.

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Educational Resource

Interview a Gardener: Green Ambassador Challenge

Learn how to conduct an oral history with a gardener then submit your work to our digital story collection, Community of Gardens, to become a Smithsonian Gardens Green Ambassador.