The Wellesley College Botanic Gardens (WCBG) include thousands of plants representing over 1,500 different taxa from more than 150 different plant families, growing in diverse habitats and communities. The WCBG foster our instinctive affinity for plants, nature, and harmonious landscapes, and support a science-based understanding and appreciation. This focus on plants and landscapes contributes to increasing knowledge and opportunities for teaching and research at the College, and develops our empathy and care for plants and the natural world.
One fundamental role of plants in nature and in culture is as food. Plants are chosen in part based on a plant’s food value for native birds, insects, and other animals, and the gardens are maintained with minimal disruption of ecological interactions among native species.
Click the navigation menu links to learn more about each garden area.
Outdoor Gardens
The Alexandra Botanic Garden has specimen trees and shrubs from around the world in a picturesque landscape. The Silver Thread brook winds through the garden from a waterfall to Paramecium Pond.
The H. H. Hunnewell Arboretum has several different habitats, including a maple swamp, meadow, and fragments of different forest types, with primarily native species. Specialized gardens include a bog garden, a dwarf conifer garden, a butterfly garden, and our Edible Ecosystem Teaching Garden!
Greenhouses
The Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses brings Margaret Ferguson's vision of “laboratories under glass” into the 21st century, and is currently under construction.The Global Flora conservatorywill highlight beauty and diversity in plant form, and our global connections with plants across cultures. Global Flora will also serve as anew node for interdisciplinary learning andan innovative example of sustainable design, with live-streaming climate sensors, rain-fed irrigation, and reduced heat consumption.
The Teaching and Research Greenhouses are connected to the Science Center and recently launched Frost Center for the Environment. These facilities will support student and faculty research, teaching, and other programs.
We look forward to welcoming visitors once construction is complete!
Science Hill
The Botanic Gardens is embedded within the broader Science Hill area of Wellesley College campus, including the new Science Center building and surrounding landscapes, from pond and meadows to wetlands and forests. A master planning effort is underway to provide a holistic design for this area, making water systems and ecosystem processes legible, educational, welcoming, and sustainable.