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About Botanical Gardens

A botanical garden is a place in which plants
are grown and displayed primarily forBy visiting botanical gardens or arboretums,
scientific and educational purposes. Acity dwellers can discover a part of the
botanical garden consists chiefly of anatural world to which they ordinarily have
collection of living plants, grownno access, escape from the pressure of dense
out-of-doors or under glass in greenhousesurban population, and perhaps even develop
and conservatories. It usually includes, innew interests and hobbies having to do with
addition, a collection of dried plants, orthe natural environment. In these special
herbarium, and such facilities as lectureparks, plants from all over the world are
rooms, laboratories, libraries, museums, andscientifically cultivated, studied, and
experimental or research plantings. Concreteartistically displayed for the pleasure and
fountains and wall water fountains are oftenenlightenment of the public. Arboretums
included in the display of botanical gardens.specialize in raising trees and shrubs (woody
plants) in their natural surroundings. They
The plants in a botanical garden may bemay exist independently or as part of a
arranged according to one or morelarger  botanical  garden.
subdivisions of botanical science. The
arrangements may be systematic (by plantUnlike ordinary parks, botanical gardens and
classification), ecological (by relation toarboretums are laid out with more than just
environment), or geographic (by region ofthe beauty of the landscape in mind. They
origin). The larger botanical gardens oftenwill offer sculpture and cast stone water
include special groupings, such as rockfeatures. Although trees and shrubs may be
gardens, water gardens, wildflower gardens,interspersed throughout the area to enhance
and collections of horticultural groupsthe pleasant surroundings, plants are usually
produced by plant breeding, such as roses,grouped according to their scientific
tulips, or rhododendrons. A plantationrelationships. Often there are small, special
restricted to exhibits of woody plants isgardens, such as rose gardens, rock gardens,
called an arboretum. Most botanical gardenswildflower gardens, or Japanese landscape
will incorporate water features such as watergardens contained within the larger botanical
wall fountains. For more information on wallgardens. Many have sections devoted to plants
water  fountains  visitof particular geographic origins, such as a
tropical plant section, or an aquatic plant
History  of  Botanical  Gardenssection. Usually, plants are labeled
according to common name, scientific name,
One of the earliest botanical gardens for theand region of origin. For more ideas on great
study of plants was established in ancientcast  stone  water  features  visit
Athens about 340 B.C. by Aristotle and run by
his pupil Theophrastus. The oldest publicA garden may contain a few hundred or as many
botanical gardens in the world are thoseas 20,000 different species and varieties of
established at Pisa, Italy, in 1543; atplants, depending upon the amount of land,
Padua, Italy, in 1545; at Paris in 1635; andmoney, and professional help available. In
at Berlin in 1679. In the 16th and 17thsize, botanical gardens range from about 2 1
centuries, herbalists cultivated medicinal2 acres (1 hectare) to over 220 acres (90
herbs in private gardens. In 1673, thehectares). There may be a greenhouse, or more
Society of Apothecaries planted the Chelseathan one greenhouse, in a botanical garden.
Physic Garden in London to provide materialsThe greenhouse is used both for displaying
for research and medicine. The Americanplants and, where winters are cold, for
botanist John Bartram near Philadelphiagrowing plants that would not otherwise
established the first experimental botanicalsurvive the seasonal change. In temperate
garden  in  the  U.S.  in  1728.climates, certain tropical plants must be
grown in greenhouses-for example, tropical
Where  Botanical  Gardens  Are  Foundorchids and ferns, pineapples, Spanish moss,
cacti, African violets, and begonias.
Almost every major city has a botanicalSeedling plants that are to be set outdoors
garden. The Royal Botanic Gardens, betteras soon as the weather is warm enough for
known as Kew Gardens, near London, founded inthem may be started in greenhouses or in
1759, is the largest in the world.hotbeds, which are beds of earth that are
Experiments and research done there have ledheated and covered with glass. Learn more
to the transplanting of commerciallyabout  featured  botanical  garden  plants at
productive crops, such as rubber, from their
native  habitats to other parts of the world.Many kinds of plants need certain climatic
conditions at certain seasons, and a
More than 300 botanical gardens are in thebotanical garden may need special storage
U.S. Among the most important are theareas for them. Some young plants, for
Missouri Botanic Gardens in Saint Louisinstance, may need a winter growing period
(1859); the New York Botanical Garden inbut cannot survive freezing temperatures.
Bronx Park (1895) and the Brooklyn BotanicThey must be stored in cold frames, which are
Garden, both in New York City. The Arnoldunheated, boxlike structures covered with
Arboretum, established in 1872, is located atglass. Houses built of lathing may be needed
Harvard  University.to store some plants temporarily in semi
shade and to grow certain plants that cannot
Benefits  of  Visiting  a  Botanical  Gardenstand the hot summer sun.



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