Level III

Connecticut College exists in a singular environment known as the Connecticut College Arboretum, which offers a conservation classroom unique among liberal arts institutions. The arboretum’s diverse 750 acres include the landscaped grounds of the college campus as well as the surrounding plant collections, natural areas and managed landscapes. The institution distinguishes itself by a long-standing commitment to conservation and supporting research and teaching in ecological and environmental studies.

The arboretum was established in 1931 as the Connecticut Arboretum on 60 acres. Acquiring land throughout the years, all 750 acres of college property became part of the Connecticut College Arboretum in 1996, with the main campus landscape managed as a plant collection. Plant collections include the campus landscape of 120 acres of trees and shrubs from around the world; the native plant collection, 30 acres of woody plants and wildflowers indigenous to eastern North America; and the three-acre Caroline Black Garden with a diversity of woody plants in a garden setting. Professional curatorial techniques, such as mapping, inventories, labeling and computer databases, are used to keep track of the thousands of specimens now part of the arboretum collections. Labeled plants, guided tours, workshops and publications are part of the collection interpretation program.

Lockerly is a 50 acre arboretum, founded in 1965, that focuses on horticulture, education, and history. The arboretum grounds contain a diverse collection of plants from around the world as well as a large collection of plants native to Georgia and the Southeastern US. Lockerly’s largest plant collection is a four acre conifer garden. The conifer collection is one of 19 reference gardens in the southeast that is certified by the American Conifer Society.  In addition to conifers, Lockerly is home to a large collection of camellias that is listed on the Georgia Camellia Trail and a collection of Japanese maples. A tropical plant and orchid collection is featured in one of our glass greenhouses.

Plants are displayed in a park-like setting that is open to the public free of charge year-round.  Visitors have the option of walking on trails or driving through the arboretum to explore the gardens.  A one-half mile nature trail is home to many mature hardwoods, ferns and wildflowers including a tall stewartia that is a Georgia State Champion tree.  Lockerly also has two other state champion trees on site, a cedar elm and a small-leaf viburnum.

The centerpiece of the property is a Greek revival mansion known as Rose Hill. Built in 1852, Rose Hill provides an historical and cultural glimpse into Georgia’s rich antebellum past. Currently the house is maintained as a museum, event venue and classroom facility. 

The Woods Museum, built in the early 1900’s as a tenant house, serves as a Visitor Center and Museum. The museum displays a huge 333 year old section of a bald cypress,botanical displays, and historical information about Rose Hill and the founder of Lockerly Arboretum.

Waimea Valley, located on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, is a place of tropical beauty dedicated to preserving rare and endangered plants through cultivation. The garden, established in 1973, includes about 100 cultivated acres and in 2003 was the beginnings of now a 60-acre in-situ Hawaiian native plant restoration forest located within the rustic setting of the 1850-acre Waimea Valley. The valley with many historically rich archeological sites was resided by known kahuna nui for over 800 years.

Waimea Valley is perpetually public accessed, and owned and managed by Hi‘ipaka LLC, a non-profit, limited liability company created to nurture and care for this treasure.  Their mission is to "Preserve and perpetuate the human, cultural and natural resources of Waimea for generations through education and stewardship". Waimea Valley is an ahupua‘a, a division of land stretching from the mountains to the sea. 

Waimea has 1,990 woody plant accessions. Its design includes over 45 individually planned gardens. You can see the plants from 10 different islands here... from the Mascarenes 500 miles off the African coast to the Ogasawara Islands near Japan. The collections of trees and plants from different island ecosystems are unique to Waimea. Other collections are grouped by plant families like gingers and heliconias...and special uses like the Ethnobotanical garden of useful Polynesian plants. The semi-temperate Asian Pandanus boninensis from the dry-forests of Ogasawara Islands when ripe, the fruits of this screw pine are orange in color and are similar to the common tropical Pacific species, Pandanus tectorius. There are about 36 other plants from this UNESCO world heritage site in their collection that have similar plant relatives in the tropical Pacific region.

The 63 acre Arboretum and Botanical Garden fills the valley south of the president's residence on Nez Perce Drive against a backdrop of the tilled, rolling Palouse hills. Organized into geographical groupings of Asian, European, Eastern, and Western North American sections, and display plantings are hundreds of species and cultivars of North Temperate trees and shrubs and a xeriscape garden. In addition to native Idaho species, there are over 120 dedicated trees and groves, trails, water features, and 27 granite benches for viewing, study, contemplation, enjoying northern Idaho's spectacular seasonal changes. Walking trails range from easy grades through steeper climbs to the most spectacular overview sites from which the Blue Mountains of Oregon can be seen.

Although conifers, ornamental species and cultivars of pear, forsythia, cherry, crabapple, lilac, shrub rose, mock orange, magnolia, shrub peony, maple, oak, and elm constitute the bulk of the collection, there are scores of special specimens in the many environmental niches of the Arboretum's valley. In a typical year, there is something in flower from February and March (e.g., alder, willow, filbert, and poplar) through October. Autumnal coloration commences in September with the maples, and progresses into November with a brilliant final color show of the Eastern North American oaks.

Additionally, there are some rare and unusual trees in groves including, Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), Ginkgo or Maidenhair Trees (Ginkgo biloba), 'Camperdownii' Weeping Elms (Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'), and cultivars of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica).

Walk along one of several grass paths and experience quiet enjoyment at the Brenton Arboretum. Landscape Architect Anthony Tyznik also designed stunning vistas throughout the arboretum using expanses of natural prairie between collections. 2100 trees and shrubs are grouped by genus on 140 acres to allow comparative evaluation between species and varieties within a genus. Educational opportunities exist for visitors and members with classes, art and music events, field trips and tours available year round. The Brenton Arboretum also features notable crabapple, conifer, oak, elm, Osage-orange and Kentucky coffeetree collections, including wild-collected and propagated plants. The Brenton family homesteaded the land that would become the arboretum in 1853. Buz and Sue Brenton founded the Brenton Arboretum in 1997 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Arboretum is open to the public year round with a mission to bring joy to all through the beauty and knowledge of the natural world of trees through education, research, conservation, and quiet enjoyment.

Located on 48 acres in Menard County in west-central Illinois, Starhill Forest is the teaching arboretum of Illinois College, developed by the Sternberg family beginning in 1976. Its primary scientific feature is a quercetum (oak collection) comprising one of the most comprehensive oak reference collections recognized by the North American Plant Collections Consortium. Approximately 2000 taxa of woody plants are available for study, as well as natural forest, water features, herb and perennial landscapes, a native prairie garden, several county and state champion trees, provenance tests, and a conifer plantation.

Gabis Arboretum at Purdue Northwest is a 360-acre, dog-friendly oak preserve of formal gardens, woodlands, wetlands and prairies that offers a variety of educational and outdoor experiences. The arboretum encompasses one of the most diverse collections of oak species in the nation and has created a safe haven for many rare plant and animal species through its restoration of the Northwest Indiana native landscape.

Brackenhust forest was started as an arboretum in 2000 with the aims of recreation, education, but above all, the conservation of East African plants. In 2003, Brackenhurst registered with Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) as a botanic garden. The garden is situated near Tigoni in Limuru district, 25 km north of Nairobi at an altitude of between 1800 and 2000m. The natural vegetation type is tropical montane forest but 99.9 percent of this in the district has been replaced by agriculture (coffee, tea, flowers and smallholder farming), exotic tree plantations (eucalyptus, wattle, and cypress), and residential land. The indigenous reforestation project has been accompanied by the return of bird and animal species and has let to the revitalization of the river within the Brackenhurst valley. 

Founded in 1831 as America's first landscaped cemetery, Mount Auburn Cemetery is a place of exquisite horticultural beauty and cultural importance. A National Historic Landmark, its renowned landscape inspired the creation of the nation's public parks. Still an active burial place, Mount Auburn Cemetery also provides comfort and solace to countless thousands.

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