ontest The United States Botanic Garden is an institution of public education dedicated to demonstrating the aesthetic, cultural, economic, therapeutic and ecological importance of plants to the well-being of human-kind. The U.S. Botanic Garden carries out this mission by: presenting artistic displays of plants, exhibits, and a program of educational activities; promoting botanical knowledge through the cultivation of an ordered collection of plants; fostering plant conservation by acting as a repository for endangered species; and growing plants for the beautification of the Capitol complex. Uniquely situation at the heart of the U.S. government, the Botanic Garden seeks to promote the exchange of ideas and information relevant to this mission among national and international visitors and policy makers.

Abotanic garden at the seat of government was the dream of several founders of the nation, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and the U. S. Botanic Garden can trace its history to these early plans. The main location, at First Street and Maryland Avenue, S.W., includes a Conservatory and 2 acres of outside grounds. The conservatory, which has one of the largest public visitation of any such garden in the country serves as the focal point for interested members of the public, students, scientists and garden clubs. This facility is currently closed for renovation. There is no charge for admission. Across Independence Avenue are the Frederic Auguste Bartholdi Park, an outdoor display area, and an administration building. Three acres directly west of the Conservatory are in the planning stages as the privately funded National Garden. The new D.C Village Production Facility, located adjacent to Shepherd Parkway in Anacostia, includes 34 greenhouse bays and a large support facility with offices, outdoor growing fields, cold frames, warehouse space, and maintenance shops. This appropriation provides for the care and upkeep of the Conservatory, Administration Building, Bartholdi Park, and the gardens and grounds surrounding them, as well as the Production Facility at D.C. Village. Be good at a poco e pabes VAG OG LOS QUILTUCO OF FUC

The Architect of the Capitol has served as Acting Director of the United States Botanic Garden since July 3, 1934. The Architect is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the garden and for any construction changes or improvements made to the garden. The Architect performs his duties in connection with the garden under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library, which is charged by law with control over the garden.

The United States Botanic Garden is comprised of four related operations. First, the organization maintains a large public conservatory that displays plants from different parts of the world. The conservatory, one of the largest structures of its kind in the country, attracts over 700,000 visitors per year. Its major collections, including aroids, begonias, bromeliads, cacti and succulents, cycads, economic plants, ferns, medicinal plants, orchids, and palms, are housed under 29,000 square feet of glass. New plants are constantly added to the collections in

Botanic Garden

Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Estimate
accordance with the mission of the Botanic Garden. Outside, in the two courtyards, an area of about 10,000 square feet is devoted to
carnivorous/bog plants, aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation, and an assortment of seasonal plantings.

Second, the Botanic Garden sponsors a number of public programs, including classes, special exhibits, and several annual flower shows.
Three of the annual shows, as well as most special exhibits, are installed in indoor display areas which total 9,000 square feet. The other annual
flower show is the Summer Terrace Display, which is held on the front and side terraces of the conservatory. In addition to its own special in-house
plant societies.
shows and exhibits, the Botanic Garden annually hosts exhibits and special events sponsored by area scientific institutions, garden clubs and

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The third major function of the Botanic Garden is to maintain and develop its outdoor grounds. Until completion of the National Garden, the main locus remains Frederic Auguste Bartholdi Park, an outdoor display area located across Independence Avenue from the rear entrance of the conservatory. Over an acre in size, it features a wide variety of summer blooming annuals, herbaceous perennials, flowering bulbs, and unusual woody plants. The focal point is the historic Bartholdi Fountain, named for its creator, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, designer of the Statue of Liberty. Like the conservatory, Bartholdi Park is an evolving display. Areas within the park are frequently redesigned to accommodate the increasing variety of plants available for gardeners. New introductions and old favorites are constantly compared and reviewed for their performance.

The fourth major responsibility of the Botanic Garden is the production of plants at, and maintenance of, the D.C. Village Production Facility, located adjacent to Shepherd Parkway in the Anacostia section of Washington, D.C. The facility includes approximately 85,000 square feet (2 acres) under glass and a 26,000-square-foot support facility. All of the plants used in the conservatory for annual shows, special displays, and replacement or additions to the permanent collections are grown at this facility. This facility also produces all the woody and herbaceous plants displayed in Bartholdi Park; those used on the conservatory grounds and in the Capitol Complex; the foliage plants lent to congressional offices; and the decorative foliage/flower arrangements used at congressional functions. In the future, the D.C. Village facility will assume responsibility for growing many of the National Garden's plants. Localeven shares