The Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden, in

South Hadley, Massachusetts South Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. South Hadley is home to Mount Holyoke Colleg ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, encompasses the

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

campus, an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

, numerous gardens, and the Talcott Greenhouse. It was first designated a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

in 1878, with guidance from Lydia Shattuck, professor of botany. The construction of the Talcott Greenhouse complex, which houses the Botanic Garden's collection of non-hardy plants, began in 1896, after the original greenhouse was destroyed by fire, and was completed in 1899. The Botanic Garden serves as an outdoor teaching laboratory as well as a place to arrange and display plants on campus. The Talcott Greenhouse maintains a permanent collection in addition to space for research and teaching purposes. Talcott Greenhouse V

Principal gardens

* Class of 1904 Garden - herbaceous perennials * Drue Matthews Garden - alpine and

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small A ...

plants * Virginia "Timmy" Craig '31 Rhododendron Garden -

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s and other woodland plants native to Eastern North America and Eastern Asia * Bullard Garden (Chapel Garden) - trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials * Ciruti Center Courtyard - Shade-loving plants such as

Ilex ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The speci ...

(hollies), Hosta,

Helleborus Commonly known as hellebores (), the Eurasian genus ''Helleborus'' consists of approximately 20 species of herbaceous or evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae. ...

and Hydrangea * Willits-Hallowell Center Courtyard * Heckel Staircase Garden - perennials and dwarf evergreens

Traditions

The Greenhouse sustains a college tradition by providing students with plants during their first year, which many try to keep alive until they graduate. Since 1971, Mount Holyoke has hosted an annual Flower Show each spring. Mount Holyoke Greenhouse VIII

Principal gardens

Traditions

See also