Tag Archives: National Park Service

U.S. Botanic Garden’s Seasonal Exhibit Opens Thanksgiving Day

Posted on November 21, 2016 | Leave a comment

usbg-holiday-show-lincoln-memorial-and-washington-monumentThis year’s annual U.S. Botanic Garden holiday exhibit, Season’s Greenings: National Parks and Historic Places, will open Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2016 and run through January 2, 2017. Immerse yourself in the sights, scents, and sounds of the season with wreaths, garland, trees, and thousands of blooms from exotic orchids to a showcase of heirloom and newly developed poinsettia varieties.

Throughout the Conservatory, the U.S. Botanic Garden will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service and the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act. In this year’s model train show, the trains will chug around, below, through, and above re-creations of iconic national parks and sites in the National Register of Historic Places. See the Grand Canyon, the Gateway Arch, Old Faithful Inn and Geyser, Mount Vernon, Mount Rushmore, a 7-foot-tall Statue of Liberty, and many more representing 48 different national parks and historic sites, all made from plants and other natural materials.

The West Gallery will house one of the largest indoor trees in Washington, DC, covered with ornaments celebrating national parks, and the Garden Court will welcome back model landmarks from the nation’s capital including favorites like the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and more – all also made from plant materials. More than 30 varieties of poinsettias will showcase old and new colors, forms, and sizes of this seasonal favorite.

The U.S. Botanic Garden is one of the oldest botanic gardens in North America. It is open to the public, free of charge, every day of the year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most Tuesdays and Thursdays in December, the Conservatory will be open until 8 p.m. for live seasonal music concerts and after-dark holiday exhibit viewing. 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington DC 20001; (202) 225-8333. http://www.usbg.gov

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New U.S. Botanic Garden Exhibit in Washington DC: Flourish Inside and Out

Posted on May 19, 2016 | Leave a comment

 

Flourish- Inside and Out exhibit logo - U.S. Botanic GardenThe U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) in Washington DC presents a new exhibit Flourish: Inside and Out from May 21 (this Saturday) through October 2, 2016. The indoor and outdoor exhibit, developed with consultation from Chicago Botanic Garden, showcases the proven human-health benefits of interacting with nature. Research has demonstrated that when people garden or otherwise spend time with nature, they experience increased productivity, better physical and mental health, healing, and improved test scores.

“Plants enrich our lives,” says Ari Novy, executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden. “In addition to providing the food we eat, clothes we wear and air we breathe, they also have profound and subtle impacts on our heath. The act of gardening has positive physical and emotional impacts on our well-being. Research shows amazing benefits of simply talking a walk in planted areas, such as parks, gardens and natural landscapes. Even a window view of plants has been shown to decrease convalesce time in hospital patients. Through Flourish: Inside and Out, we invite visitors to immerse themselves in the healing world of plants while demonstrating how everyone can bring the power of plants into their lives.”

The East Gallery of the Conservatory will feature indoor vignettes showing how plants can bring the outdoors inside in various settings such as offices, homes, schools, and waiting rooms. Each section will feature ongoing programs such as Green Bronx Machine that is growing greens and other vegetables in classrooms and examples of tools and techniques for indoor plant care.

Outdoors, Flourish: Inside and Out will engage many senses – the front Terrace will feature plants to stimulate the senses of smell, touch, sound, and sight. For visual appeal even at a distance, colors will transition around the Conservatory in a rainbow of warm to cool colors.

The east Terrace beds will profile organizations that use horticulture and gardening in a therapeutic manner with diverse audiences including veterans, current- and formerly incarcerated youth and adults, and people with physical and intellectual disabilities.  These programs promote healthy lifestyles, supply horticultural therapy, provide horticultural job training, and offer gardening-based recreation. Programs profiled will include St. Coletta of Greater Washington, Melwood Horticulture Program, Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest, the Rikers Island GreenHouse program by the Horticultural Society of New York, and Denver Botanic Gardens’ Chatfield Farms.

Additionally, the exhibit will showcase accessible gardening with beds of varying heights and designs to enable people of all abilities to garden. Features will include beds and planters for standing, sitting, and wheelchair use and a tool shed featuring adaptive and ergonomic tools.

Throughout Flourish: Inside and Out, the USBG will offer programs, workshops, lectures, tours, and cooking demonstrations to showcase and provide training on gardening at home and ways plants and nature can enrich daily life. The USBG is also working with the National Park Service (NPS) to share how their Find Your Park program can help visitors connect with nature in national parks, as well as collaborating on veteran-related horticulture programs with the NPS American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial adjacent to the USBG. Visit www.USBG.gov/Flourish to learn more about the exhibit and associated programs.

Text and image courtesy of the USBG.

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Book Your Trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show!

Posted on February 10, 2016 | 2 comments

Calendar_PanelNow is the time to think about planning your trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show, the nation’s largest and longest running flower show in North America. This year the show will run from Saturday, March 5, through Sunday, March 13. The theme is “Explore America: 100 Years of the National Park Service.” In the Flower Show’s acres of trails, exhibits and attractions, guests will discover the range of horticulture in the national landscape, including the rainbow of wildflowers, desert blooms, coastal flora, verdant meadows, fragrant pinelands, and ancient redwoods. The Flower Show also will tell the diverse stories that forged the United States with exhibits inspired by the nation’s monuments and places where history happened. “Explore America” will spotlight Independence National Historical Park, Lincoln’s birthplace, Liberty Island, and other sites honoring our national heritage. Visitors will start their Flower Show adventure in the “Big Timber Lodge,” an interpretation of classic park architecture of wood and stone, enhanced by Native American-inspired art, sculpted animals, floral totems, and a dazzling waterfall. Spectacular imagery spanning the breadth of the park system will come to life on multiple overhead screens, as sounds of thundering bison and songbirds transport visitors into the wild. Guests will have the opportunity to follow three trails through the show floor, leading them to exhibits that exemplify the natural beauty, history, and culture of the sites maintained by the National Park Service.

The Flower Show is held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th and Arch Street, but you don’t have to drive there by yourself. In the Washington DC metropolitan area, there are several coach bus trips that make it easy to access the show. Coach bus companies offer trips, and many nurseries, garden clubs, Master Gardener groups, public gardens, and park systems offer day trips to the Convention Center. Green Spring Gardens, Brookside Gardens, and Greenstreet Gardens offer bus trips, contact them directly for more information. The Washington Gardener magazine offers two trips on different days: one from Behnkes Nursery and one from Silver Spring. Check out the various venues for date/time of departure, meeting locations, and prices which could include admission ticket, food, or entertainment. This is a walk-till-you-drop event: wear tennis shoes and bring your camera!

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