Botanic Garden of Smith College, The

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United States of America - Massachusetts - Northampton

Institution Code: SCHN

BGCI Member: Yes

ArbNet Accredited: Level III

Lyman Conservatory with perennial border in the foreground and the campus arboretum. Botanic Garden of Smith College, Northampton, MA
Lyman Conservatory with perennial border in the foreground and the campus arboretum. Botanic Garden of Smith College, Northampton, MA

About the Botanic Garden of Smith College, The

The Smith College campus was originally planned and planted over one hundred years ago as a botanic garden and arboretum, designed by the landscape architecture firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. Today, the Botanic Garden encompasses the 125 acre college campus. The Lyman Plant House features a changing Exhibition Gallery and the Lyman Conservatory consists of 12,000 square feet under glass, housing tropical collections and two special shows annually: the Spring Bulb Show in March and the Fall Chrysanthemum Show in November. The campus arboretum and specialty gardens on campus contain over of 7000 labeled and mapped plants. Adjacent to the Lyman Conservatory are the Rock Garden, one of the oldest in America, and the Systematics Garden, renovated in 2015 to reflect the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system of classification. Other gardens include Capen Garden, a Woodland and Wildflower Garden, and Herb Garden. Audio tours are available as well as guided tours for school groups.

Main Address:
Botanic Garden of Smith College, The
16 College Lane
Northampton
Massachusetts 01063 United States of America

Telephone: (413) 585-2742
Fax: (413) 585-2744
URL: www.smith.edu/garden
Primary Email: garden@smith.edu

Staff Details

  • Director's Name: Tim Johnson, Director
    Curator's Name: Elaine Chittenden, Manager of Living Collections
    Plant Records Officer's Name:
  • Total Staff:
    Horticultural Staff Number: 8
    Educational Staff Number: 2
    Research Staff Number:
    Administration Staff Number: 5

About the Garden

  • Institution Type: Botanic Garden
  • Status
  • Status: Private: Yes
    Status: State: No
    Status: Educational: Yes
    Status: Municipal: No
    Status: Satellite: No
    Status: Trust: No
  • Date founded: 1895
  • Physical Data
  • Natural Vegetation Area: No
  • Landscaped Area: Yes
    Landscaped Area: Size: 50 Hectares
  • Total Area: 50 Hectares
    Latitude: 42.3165694
    Longitude: -72.6401580
    Annual Rainfall: 1092 mm
    Altitude: 61.00 Metres
    Total area of glasshouses: 1115 Metres

Features and Facilities

  • Herbarium: Yes
    Herbarium: Number of Specimens: 60000
    Arboretum: Yes
    Arboretum Size: 50
  • Micropropagation/ Tissue Culture Facilities: Yes
    Seed Bank: No
    Published Plant Catalogue: Yes
    Computer Plant Record System: Yes
  • Open to public: Yes
    Friends society: Yes
    Retail Outlet: Shop: Yes
    Retail Outlet: Plant Sales: No
    Disabled access: Yes
  • Number of Visitors: 60000
    Number of Volunteers: 35

Plant Collections

  • Accession Number: 8353
    Cultivation Taxa Num: 5339
  • Special Collections:-1200 types of woody trees and shrubs
    -1599 types of hardy herbaceous plants
    -2469 types of tender herbaceous and woody plants in the Lyman Conservatory
    -Approximately 5387 different kinds of plants, with altogether approximately 8,385 total on campus
  • Invasive Species Monitoring: Yes
    Invasive Species Policy: Yes
    ABS Policy: No
    Plant Collection Policy: Yes

Conservation Programmes

  • Conservation Programme: Yes
    Medicinal Plant Programme: No
    Ex Situ Conservation Programme: Yes
    Reintroduction Programme: No

Research Programmes

  • Plant Breeding: No
    Conservation - Biology: No
    Education: Yes
    Ethnobotany: Yes
    Horticulture: Yes
    Invasive Species Biology and Control: Yes
    Restoration Ecology: Yes

Education Programmes

  • Visitor/Education Centre: Yes
    Education Signs in Garden: Yes
    Public Lectures/Talks: Yes
    Education Booklets/Leaflets: Yes
    Guided Tours: Yes
    Permanent Public Displays: Yes
    Special Exhibitions: Yes
    Courses for School Children: No
    Courses for University/College Students: Yes
    Courses for General Public: No
    Education Programme: Yes