Credit map: William Tipton
United States Botanic Garden on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. You may notice that some gardens are named botanic and others botanical. No worries, because the two words are synonymous. Botanical, however, is the more common usage. In addition to public botanical gardens—to be found in nearly every state—there are formerly private gardens at the estates of some of America’s business and industrial pioneers that are now open for all to enjoy. We’ll visit several of them in the following article—along with a roster of other top gardens across the country— beginning in Florida, home to the nation’s largest concentration of botanical gardens Vizcaya Museum & Gardens – Miami, Florida No doubt Florida’s most classy gardens, Vizcaya recreates the glorious French- and Italian-style gardens of the 17th and 18th centuries, exuding both elegance and fantastical whimsy. Built between 1914 and 1922 by retired International Harvester executive and conservationist James Deering, Vizcaya is set on a magnificent 50-acre estate that features almost 10 acres of formal Italian and French-
FLOWER POWER Story by Dave G. Houser Photos provided by each Botanical Garden
If poet Ralph Waldo Emerson was right when he said, “the earth laughs in flowers,” then get ready for a chorus of laughter as botanical gardens across the nation burst forth in blossom this spring. The cultivation of ornamental gardens goes back a very long time. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, for example, were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The enchanting Gardens of Versailles, laid out by French King Louis XIII in the 1630s, are seen by many experts as having set the world stage for formal gardens. Here in the United States, we can thank three early presidents for the establishment of the country’s first public botanical garden in 1820. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison all were instrumental in creating what would become the
FLOWER POWER
COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2022
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