United States Botanic Garden

• Pages: 45-46

UNITED STATES BOTANIC GARDEN

Office of Executive Director, 245 First Street SW., Washington, DC 20024

Phone, 202-226-8333. Internet, www.aoc.gov.

Conservatory, Maryland Avenue, First to Second Streets SW., Washington, DC 20024

Phone, 202-225-6647

Production Facility, 4700 Shepherd Parkway SW., Washington, DC 20032

Phone, 202-563-2220

Director (Architect of the Capitol) Alan M. Hantman, Acting

Executive Director Holly H. Shimizu

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The United States Botanic Garden informs visitors about the aesthetic, cultural, economic, therapeutic, and ecological importance of plants to the well-being of humankind.

The U.S. Botanic Garden carries out its mission by presenting artistic displays of plants, exhibits, and a program of educational activities; promoting botanical knowledge through the cultivation of an ordered collection of plants; fostering plant conservation by acting as a repository for endangered species; and growing plants for the beautification of the Capitol complex. Uniquely situated at the heart of the U.S. Government, the Botanic Garden seeks to promote the exchange of ideas and information relevant to this mission among national and international visitors and policymakers.

Collections of the U.S. Botanic Garden include orchids, epiphytes, bromeliads, carnivorous plants, ferns, cycads, cacti, succulents, medicinal plants, rare and endangered plants, and plants valued as sources of food, beverages, fibers, and other industrial products.

The U.S. Botanic Garden is currently undergoing a significant expansion and transformation. The Conservatory, one of the largest structures of its kind in this country, closed to the public on September 2, 1997, for a complete renovation. In addition to upgraded amenities for visitors, it will feature 12 new exhibit and plant display areas interpreting plants in their relationship to humankind and to the environment. The Conservatory is expected to reopen in the year 2001. Construction for the National Garden, a 3-acre site just west of the Conservatory, is scheduled to begin in 2001. This new public facility will feature a First Ladies water garden, a formal rose garden, a showcase garden displaying the outstanding native plants of the Mid-

Atlantic region in naturalistic settings, and the Senator John Heinz Environmental Learning Center.

Outdoor plantings are showcased in Bartholdi Park, a home landscape demonstration area. Each of...