Exploring Nature’s Living Museum

What makes a Botanic or Botanical Garden different from any other garden or park?

When you walk through a botanic garden, it may seem you are just surrounded by beautiful plants (and you are!), but there is much more going on beneath the surface. These gardens are actually living collections specifically designed and curated to tell stories, spark curiosity and connection, and play a role in education and conservation. Much like a museum curates and preserves parts of history and artifacts, a botanic garden carefully curates and preserves a plant collection.

At their best, botanic gardens are living museums. Every plant is part of a bigger picture chosen and placed with thought. Maybe it’s grouped by region, plant family, by the type of environment it thrives in, or even how plants are used in different cultures. With this kind of intentional design a garden becomes not only a beautiful tapestry of living beauty, but also a learning experience that feels natural and inviting.

When the design is intentional, it can help people engage more deeply, not just with the beauty of the plants but the meaning behind them. And there is meaning. Botanic gardens play an important role in conservation by caring for a wide range of plant life and making sure it continues to thrive. By growing and maintaining healthy, diverse collections, they help protect the richness of the plant world. It’s thoughtful, ongoing work, and a quiet but powerful way these gardens support the environment and encourage people to care about the natural world around them.

Of course, with living collections, things are always changing. New plants are added, some die, nomenclature is updated, and sometimes entire beds are redesigned. That’s why good documentation and regular inventories are so important. Keeping records of plants in the garden, where they came from, when they were planted, and how they’re doing over time helps the whole team make smart decisions. It also ensures that the collection stays scientifically useful, not just beautiful. Just like a museum tracks every object in its collection, gardens do the same with their plants. For visitors, clear labeling and up-to-date information help make those connections. A little sign next to a plant might seem simple, but it can open the door to a whole world of learning about ecosystems, cultural uses, or why that plant is important to protect.

As part of our ongoing effort to care for and improve our plant collection, Wellfield is also making a big upgrade behind the scenes. Recently we have made the jump to Hortis, a modern plant collection management system. While it might not be something visitors see right away, this kind of software plays a huge role in how we track, organize, and care for the plants in our garden. Hortis makes it easier for our team to document changes, keep plant records accurate and up to date, and even map where every plant is growing on the grounds. It also offers features that will help us make our collections accessible to the public in the future. We hope that this will not only help further our mission of education and community engagement, but also build more environmental awareness, encourage stewardship, curiosity, and a sense of shared responsibility for our planet. With a collection that is always evolving, having a reliable, user-friendly system helps us stay connected to the full story of each plant and ultimately helps us share that story more clearly with the public.

In the end, a botanic garden is more than a beautiful place to visit. It’s a living, breathing record of the plant world, and when it’s designed with care and intention, it becomes a space for connection, learning, and hope for the future.

Kyle Strain

Manager of Public Horticulture