Homes
Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Want to transform your garden into a habitat? Visit Homes to find out how you can surround yourself with beautiful plants while providing food, shelter, and water for creatures great and small.
Exhibit panel from Homes
These installation panels tell diverse stories about habitats and the plants, animals, and humans that call them home
Introduction to Homes
Photos from Homes
Installation in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Homes in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Homes in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Homes in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Homes in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Homes in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Homes in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Homes in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Homes in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
Explore the exhibits
Click on a numbered circle to find details about an exhibit
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Sheltering Branches
Outside the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Discover the story of the Southern live oak tree: an enduring symbol of safety, strength, and resilience.
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Life Underground (Off Display)
Did you know that beneath your feet is a network of living organisms communicating with each other?
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Dead Wood Is Life
Outside the National Museum of American History
When a tree dies, it’s not the end of the story; it’s the start of a new chapter.
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We Need You!
Outside the National Museum of American History
Native wildflowers are beautiful, but did you know they also help us produce food?
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Nests
Outside the National Museum of Natural History
Ever wondered what a bird nest looks like up close?
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Bug B&B
Outside the National Museum of Natural History
Bugs are everywhere, and they need places to live, just like us.
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Biomes: Life in the Balance
Inside the S. Dillon Ripley Center
Visit deserts, rainforests, grasslands, wetlands, and tundra without leaving the National Mall.
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Key to the Forest (Temporarily Closed)
Enid A. Haupt Garden
Figs are delicious, but did you know they also play a vital role in their habitats?
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Foundation of the Sea
Enid A. Haupt Garden
Plants and animals live in habitats, but did you know that some species create habitats themselves?
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Monarchs on the Move
Outside the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Monarch butterflies travel around 3,000 miles when migrating—that’s farther than the distance between Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.
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Habitat of Flight (Off Display)
For centuries, humans have sought inspiration from nature while studying the mysteries of flight.
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Native Landscape
Outside the National Museum of the American Indian
The Native Landscape at the NMAI features more than 33,000 plants of approximately 150 species native to our area.
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The Great Indoors
Inside the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery
Experience the benefits of bringing the great outdoors inside!
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