About Botanical Gardens

A botanical garden is a place in which plants arewhich they ordinarily have no access, escape from the
grown and displayed primarily for scientific andpressure of dense urban population, and perhaps even
educational purposes. A botanical garden consistsdevelop new interests and hobbies having to do with
chiefly of a collection of living plants, grownthe natural environment. In these special parks, plants
out-of-doors or under glass in greenhouses andfrom all over the world are scientifically cultivated,
conservatories. It usually includes, in addition, a collectionstudied, and artistically displayed for the pleasure and
of dried plants, or herbarium, and such facilities asenlightenment of the public. Arboretums specialize in
lecture rooms, laboratories, libraries, museums, andraising trees and shrubs (woody plants) in their natural
experimental or research plantings. Concrete fountainssurroundings. They may exist independently or as part
and wall water fountains are often included in theof a larger botanical garden.
display of botanical gardens.Unlike ordinary parks, botanical gardens and
The plants in a botanical garden may be arrangedarboretums are laid out with more than just the beauty
according to one or more subdivisions of botanicalof the landscape in mind. They will offer sculpture and
science. The arrangements may be systematic (bycast stone water features. Although trees and shrubs
plant classification), ecological (by relation tomay be interspersed throughout the area to enhance
environment), or geographic (by region of origin). Thethe pleasant surroundings, plants are usually grouped
larger botanical gardens often include special groupings,according to their scientific relationships. Often there
such as rock gardens, water gardens, wildflowerare small, special gardens, such as rose gardens, rock
gardens, and collections of horticultural groupsgardens, wildflower gardens, or Japanese landscape
produced by plant breeding, such as roses, tulips, orgardens contained within the larger botanical gardens.
rhododendrons. A plantation restricted to exhibits ofMany have sections devoted to plants of particular
woody plants is called an arboretum. Most botanicalgeographic origins, such as a tropical plant section, or
gardens will incorporate water features such as wateran aquatic plant section. Usually, plants are labeled
wall fountains. For more information on wall wateraccording to common name, scientific name, and
fountains visitregion of origin. For more ideas on great cast stone
History of Botanical Gardenswater features visit
One of the earliest botanical gardens for the study ofA garden may contain a few hundred or as many as
plants was established in ancient Athens about 34020,000 different species and varieties of plants,
B.C. by Aristotle and run by his pupil Theophrastus. Thedepending upon the amount of land, money, and
oldest public botanical gardens in the world are thoseprofessional help available. In size, botanical gardens
established at Pisa, Italy, in 1543; at Padua, Italy, in 1545;range from about 2 1/2 acres (1 hectare) to over 220
at Paris in 1635; and at Berlin in 1679. In the 16th andacres (90 hectares). There may be a greenhouse, or
17th centuries, herbalists cultivated medicinal herbs inmore than one greenhouse, in a botanical garden. The
private gardens. In 1673, the Society of Apothecariesgreenhouse is used both for displaying plants and,
planted the Chelsea Physic Garden in London towhere winters are cold, for growing plants that would
provide materials for research and medicine. Thenot otherwise survive the seasonal change. In
American botanist John Bartram near Philadelphiatemperate climates, certain tropical plants must be
established the first experimental botanical garden ingrown in greenhouses-for example, tropical orchids
the U.S. in 1728.and ferns, pineapples, Spanish moss, cacti, African
Where Botanical Gardens Are Foundviolets, and begonias. Seedling plants that are to be set
Almost every major city has a botanical garden. Theoutdoors as soon as the weather is warm enough for
Royal Botanic Gardens, better known as Kewthem may be started in greenhouses or in hotbeds,
Gardens, near London, founded in 1759, is the largest inwhich are beds of earth that are heated and covered
the world. Experiments and research done there havewith glass. Learn more about featured botanical
led to the transplanting of commercially productivegarden plants at
crops, such as rubber, from their native habitats toMany kinds of plants need certain climatic conditions at
other parts of the world.certain seasons, and a botanical garden may need
More than 300 botanical gardens are in the U.S.special storage areas for them. Some young plants,
Among the most important are the Missouri Botanicfor instance, may need a winter growing period but
Gardens in Saint Louis (1859); the New York Botanicalcannot survive freezing temperatures. They must be
Garden in Bronx Park (1895) and the Brooklyn Botanicstored in cold frames, which are unheated, boxlike
Garden, both in New York City. The Arnold Arboretum,structures covered with glass. Houses built of lathing
established in 1872, is located at Harvard University.may be needed to store some plants temporarily in
Benefits of Visiting a Botanical Gardensemi shade and to grow certain plants that cannot
By visiting botanical gardens or arboretums, citystand the hot summer sun.
dwellers can discover a part of the natural world to