Incorporating the study of plants into academics was an insightful idea in 1875, and it still is. The spirit President Seelye's concept has persisted at Smith College and remains basic to our purpose. Today the Botanic Garden serves as a living museum of plants native to New England and ecosystems all around the globe.

Today, the Botanic Garden includes thousands of plants, including those grown under glass in the Lyman Conservatory and outdoors in the campus areboretum - our landscape for learning - and various specialty gardens around campus. Additionally, there are 60,000 pressed specimens available for research in the herbarium.

Botanic Garden activities and collections include not only plants but also books and other resource materials (including our newsletter, Botanic Garden News), an international seed exchange, research and conservation, and diverse events. Yet the living plant specimens are the heart of the Botanic Garden and our bridge to the rest of the botanical world, past, present, and future.

• 6600 different kinds of plants
• Events and shows
• Group visits and guided tours
• Audio tours
• Weddings