November 26, 2024 at 4:43 pm
With nearly 1,800 trees across the Smithsonian campus, Smithsonian Gardens (SG)’s Tree Collection is one of the Smithsonian’s most visible, widespread, and accessible collections. Over 25 million visitors each year have an opportunity to engage with the Tree Collection, a significant visitation number which presents both a wealth of opportunities and some unique challenges. Tree […]
October 15, 2024 at 12:30 pm
He had a great appreciation for roses, ink, and paper. He lavished as much attention on national parks in the U.S. as he did on his own garden. If you don’t recognize the name J. Horace McFarland, you’re not alone. He might be the most famous man you’ve never heard of. McFarland (1859 – 1948) […]
July 30, 2024 at 10:28 am
Back to school…Before “Natural Sciences” classes were taught in high schools, Botany (the study of plants) was considered its own course of study for students. Botany was included in high-school curriculums as early as the 1800’s. In the nineteenth century, it was often covered in a half- or full-year course in the second year of […]
June 17, 2024 at 7:42 pm
Juneteenth is a day of commemoration and a time to reflect on the remarkable resilience of enslaved individuals seeking freedom. The historic record has little on freedom seekers’ experiences during their journey to freedom to escape enslavement. Few details have been found on the survival methods of people fleeing enslavement, including the means to find […]
March 1, 2024 at 2:49 pm
In fall 2023, the Smithsonian Gardens Orchid Collection (SGOC) hosted intern Mimi Diaz-Salgado, a recent graduate of Wellesley College, for an 11-week learning opportunity. Mimi’s internship involved both hands-on orchid care and research related to the biocultural connections of orchids in the collection, of which the blog below is a result. SGOC is grateful to […]
February 15, 2024 at 12:23 am
Sweethearts abound in February thanks to Valentine’s Day. What more appropriate flower for sweethearts than sweet peas! Did you know that sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) were the focus of a wildly popular plant craze in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? This annual, a native of southern Italy, Sicily, and the Aegean Islands, had […]
January 5, 2024 at 4:26 pm
The future of orchids is lush, bold, inspiring, and something that we can realize together. This year’s orchid exhibit, The Future of Orchids: Conservation and Collaboration, takes visitors on a deep dive into the weird and wild world of orchids, highlighting large-scale artworks that invite visitors to imagine the future of orchids, and sharing […]
October 2, 2023 at 12:36 am
Smithsonian Gardens (SG) and the Archives of American Gardens (AAG) have a lot to celebrate in 2022. This year marks a series of institutional milestones, including the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Smithsonian Gardens in 1972, the 35th anniversary of the formation of the Archives of American Gardens in 1987, and the 30th anniversary […]
September 22, 2023 at 1:50 pm
Change is happening in the gardens around the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). If you’ve visited recently, you may have noticed the transformations. The landscape is maturing as it completes its seventh year in the ground. Trees have established and reach for the sky while woody shrubs fill their borders. […]
June 30, 2023 at 1:41 pm
One reason we preserve our living collections is to be able to do science with those collections. But sometimes, doing science is also living collections preservation in action. Such is the case with our accessioned crapemyrtle trees (Lagerstroemia spp.) and the associated exotic insect pest crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS), Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae. CMBS is a new […]
April 17, 2023 at 11:54 am
It’s an American ideal: our strength is in our diversity. The same applies to our urban trees and urban forests. The diversity of the trees we plant serves as the foundation for the health, strength, and resilience of our urban forests as a whole. Each type of tree comes with its own unique attributes, and […]
March 29, 2023 at 4:54 pm
In honor of April, a.k.a. National Orchid Month, I wanted to share some insights about the Smithsonian Gardens Orchid Collection and our innovations in the management of living collections. Let’s dive right in, shall we? The Smithsonian Gardens Orchid Collection (SGOC) began in 1976 with a bequest from philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post, which expanded into […]
February 8, 2023 at 1:14 pm
While February is the shortest month of the year, oddly enough it sometimes seems like it is also the longest what with winter holding on for its last full month. To get through this season’s last gasp, let’s celebrate greenhouses and their ability to extend the growing season despite Old Man Winter. Who knew that […]
January 5, 2023 at 6:07 pm
Smithsonian Gardens (SG) and the Archives of American Gardens (AAG) had a lot to celebrate in 2022. This year marks a series of institutional milestones, including the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Smithsonian Gardens in 1972, the 35th anniversary of the formation of the Archives of American Gardens in 1987, and the 30th anniversary […]
October 18, 2022 at 12:54 pm
Documentation of America’s garden heritage would not be as sizeable today, if not for the foresight and efforts of Alice G. B. Lockwood and other members of The Garden Club of America’s (GCA) Historical Gardens Committee. In 1925, the committee began assembling information for a book that would illuminate the historic gardens of the United […]