The Botanic Garden of Smith College
16 College Lane
Northampton Massachusetts 01063
Lyman Plant House and Conservatory :
We are free and open to the public year round thanks to the support of our members of the Friends of the Botanic Garden.
Lyman Plant House & Conservatory:
Open Daily from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. | Closed on major holidays and during the Smith College winter break. Please note, hours change during our two annual flower shows.
Campus Arboretum and Gardens:
Open daily to the public year-round
Link to Events and Exhibits:
Outdoor Gardens: https://garden.smith.edu/plants/outdoor-gardens
2024 Spring Bulb Show
Saturday, March 2, 2024 10 a.m. – Sunday, March 17, 2024 4 p.m.
Location: Lyman Conservatory
It’s that time of year again! That time when Lyman Conservatory provides a preview of spring colors and scents. With over 9,000 bulbs brought to flower, you won’t want to miss this year’s Spring Bulb Show. The show will once again feature a student-commissioned art installation. Building on the success of last year’s inaugural commission, five students were selected this year through an open call.
The 2024 show runs from Saturday, March 2 through Sunday March 17. The plant house will be open for extended hours for the show:
~9 am – 10 am daily, members only hours
~10 am – 4 pm, Sunday – Thursday
~10 am – 8 pm, Fridays & Saturdays
Introducing Our Student-Run Learning Garden
The Learning Garden, located between Northrop and Lamont houses, is a student-managed and botanic garden supported space dedicated to teaching students how to grow, process and harvest plants for personal use. With the conclusion of the geothermal digging near Lamont in spring of 2023, new raised beds were installed and botanic garden summer interns and staff established a cut flower garden and pollinatorfriendly perennial plantings in the surrounding area. More work continues on additional parts of the garden, with the hope of planting additional edibles next spring.
This fall, two student educators will start their roles as garden coordinators and will be working to add signage and seating further connecting the Smith College community to the garden. Garden coordinators will also develop programming to bring students together in celebration of gardening.
Virtual Field Trips!
Nasami Farm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13eRXiMCjCY
Grow Food Northampton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6xhOvDe9hs&feature=youtu.be
Gardening the Community: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phkERyJhSsc&feature=youtu.be
Springfield Museums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuEcAJTYK8M
Wanczyk Nursery Field Trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK-b2XRikJ4&feature=youtu.be
The Botanic Garden of Smith College was founded over one hundred years ago by Laurenus Clarke Seelye, the College’s first president, with the hope that the whole campus could be developed as a botanic garden so that it might be of scientific as well as aesthetic value. The landscape architecture firm of Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central Park fame, was enlisted to create that plan.
Today the Botanic Garden serves as a living museum of plants native to New England and ecosystems around the globe. The Garden encompasses the 12,000 square foot Lyman Conservatory and Church Exhibition Gallery, the campus arboretum, and a variety of specialty gardens, including the Rock Garden, Systematics Garden, Capen Garden, and the Japanese Garden for Reflection and Contemplation. The outdoor gardens and greenhouses are open to the public year-round.
The Botanic Garden of Smith College in Northampton has achieved the highest level of arboretum accreditation–Level IV–from The Morton Arboretum’s ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program.The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to recognize arboreta that achieve particular standards of professional and collection excellence.
The Botanic Garden of Smith College’s historic arboretum, which previously held a Level III accreditation, has earned this new level of accreditation because of its commitment to building conservation collections and institutional collaboration
Events: https://garden.smith.edu/news-events
Link to website: https://garden.smith.edu
Image Credits: garden.smith.edu unless otherwise noted
