The National Garden Opens

Facts about this three-acre garden, located on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.

Filed under: Butterfly Garden

The new National Garden in Washington, D.C., includes a First Ladies' water garden, some exceptional roses and an extensive display of mid-Atlantic plants.

Starting October 1, visitors to Washington, D.C.'s National Mall will have one more must-see destination: A First Ladies garden, a butterfly garden and a broad array of plants from the Mid-Atlantic region—all on a three-acre site next to the U.S. Botanic Garden.

The National Garden is designed to serve as an outdoor annex and learning laboratory for the Botanic Garden.

"It is beautiful," says Holly Shimizu, executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden. "Equally important, it vastly expands our opportunities to teach and expose Americans of all ages to plants and to the environment in which they thrive. We can't wait to start teaching in—and learning from—the Garden."

Following the meandering pathways, visitors to the National Garden will discover:

An extensive rose garden with exceptional examples of every category of America's national flower—grandifloras and floribundas, miniatures and climbers, old garden roses and modern hybrid teas, shrub roses and species roses. Some great cultivars to look for: 'Green Ice', 'Roseraie de l'Hay', 'Graham Thomas', 'Rise 'n' Shine' and 'Single's Better'.

A butterfly garden with a wide variety of nectar plants to lure local and migrating butterflies, emphasizing the importance of these pollinators in maintaining plant diversity;

An extensive regional garden with a wide variety of mid-Atlantic, trees, shrubs and perennials flanking a naturalistic stream. Hundreds of species and varieties of plants native to the coastal plains and Piedmont regions extending from New Jersey to North Carolina are repesented here, including swamp titi (Cyrilla racemiflora), toothache grass (Ctenium aromaticum), New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum).

An open-air amphitheater for educational programs and concerts;

A First Ladies' water garden, Washington's only monument to the contributions that First Ladies have made to American life

A manicured lawn terrace that serves as green space and a gathering place.

The National Garden is the product of a unique private-public sector partnership. The National Fund for the U.S. Botanic Garden, working with and through the Architect of the Capitol, has raised $11.5 million from private sector donors to fund construction of the Garden. The fundraising efforts were led by the Garden's founding sponsors—HGTV, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Lowes, Deere & Co. and the Heinz Family Foundation.