Season's Greenings at US Botanic Garden
The U.S. Botanic Garden located on Capitol Hill brings joy every holiday season in the form of plants! From late November to early January, the Garden hosts a free event called "Season's Greenings" filled natural decorative arts, festive music and family fun.
Model Train Entrance
The main attraction can be seen in the Model Train exhibit room, where a toy train rolls through a town built around an annual theme using all natural materials. For example, in 2016 the theme was "National Parks and Historic Places," where sites like Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill were represented using natural objects such as elm bark, pine cone scales and cinnamon sticks. Learn more about it here or watch a video here.
This year in 2019, the theme is "America's Gardens" where scenes from 24 public gardens will be represented, including the Biltmore Conservatory on the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and the Singing Tower from Bok Tower Gardens in Florida.
Use the Model Train Entrance to see this exhibit. Lines can be quite long on the weekends, so it's advised to visit on weekdays if possible.
Conservatory Entrance
If you want to bypass the model train line, you can still see a magnificent, festive display inside the Garden Court by going through the Conservatory Entrance. Every year, the major Washington, DC landmarks are also represented through naturally made miniatures. Learn more about them here.
You'll see the fine architectural detail of the U.S. Capitol made of fern fronds, acorn caps and rafia.
Or see the U.S. Supreme Court made of honeysuckle sticks and seagrape leaves.
A huge, decorated Christmas tree dominates the center of the room. And more than 3,000 poinsettias add bright splashes of red and pink to the jungle-like greenery under the glass and metal Conservatory.
You can walk through the rest of the U.S. Botanic Garden as usual, though the two outdoor courtyards are shut down for the season.
Attend a Concert
If you enjoy festive music, check out their holiday concert series that runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings throughout December here.
Learn More
Don't miss this unique seasonal display. Kids and adults will enjoy it. Check here for more details and past years' events and get some festive gardening tips for your own backyard.
See an older video here:
