The U.S. Botanic Garden is beautiful and serene, a green oasis even in the middle of winter. But for all the delicate plants the name brings to mind, it is also an engrossing and age appropriate adventure for budding young gardeners too. And when we visited in February, along with 30-odd other four-year-olds for Big Brother’s class field trip, the annual Orchid Show had just begun and the conservatory was awash in color.
The students have been discussing plants for much of the year, recently transitioning to edible examples. After a solid introduction by a member of the USBG education staff, the kids each made a souvenir seedling necklace — a seed encased in moistened cotton and placed in a tiny zip-top bag strung around their neck — and received their Plants and Food passport.
This small booklet was the perfect size for little hands and included descriptions of seven notable edible plants that were distributed around the facility, from pomegranates (Mediterranean gallery) to candy barrel cactus (desert gallery). All of the kids loved scouring the greenery to find plants that matched the ones in the book’s illustrations. Even better, in some galleries, there were plenty of additional edible plants that eagle-eyed students spotted independently, like many herbs and citrus trees, or were able to discuss after prompting from the accompanying adults. Mine was particularly excited to see how coffee grows, as he knows that’s a very important consumable commodity in our house!
A universal favorite feature of the gardens, among this age group at least, was found in the Garden Primeval area — several examples of dinosaur statuary hidden among the plants, often at angles where it was hard for adults to spot them. A portion of the pathway even had simulated footprints.
The numerous fountains and water features were also very popular with the junior crowd. Adults appreciated them for the element of white noise they provided, which helped make the sound level manageable, considering there were many field trips of different ages, as well as tourists and orchid fanciers all exploring simultaneously.
It had been years since I’d been to the Botanic Garden, and it certainly wasn’t a place I would have thought to bring small children, remembering it as much more quiet and demure. But I was happily surprised by how much Big Brother liked it. We weren’t even back on the bus before he requested a return visit on an upcoming weekend to explore more.
