Plant populations can be just as representative of their environment as human populations can be. Take the United States, for example. The native plants found in Maryland can be vastly different from those found in NoVA, let alone from coast to coast, where plants vary widely through an array of colors, growth patterns and mismatched heights.
As a celebration of the country’s plant diversity and all of the botanical work across the U.S., the United States Botanic Garden recently opened the Gardens Across America exhibit, featuring small garden representations from 21 different chosen botanical gardens around the nation. Each are representative of rare and endangered plant species that are native to their given area, and include plants from historic estates and modern oases.
The exhibit will feature customized gardens from Pennsylvania to California, including two representations of DC through the Smithsonian Gardens and the U.S. National Arboretum. The gardens themselves will include more information on origins and regional characteristics of the featured plants.
Guests can find large sculptures throughout the exhibit as well, such as flamingo and butterfly topiaries to represent Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus, Ohio, and a wooden bee and honeycomb for the Smithsonian Gardens.
To find more information on the featured botanical gardens and to see if your home state made the list, visit usbg.gov to find the interactive map.
The U.S. Botanic Garden is free and open to the public and open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The garden’s hours will be extended from Memorial Day to Labor Day until 7 p.m. // United States Botanical Gardens: 100 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington, DC; free
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