Facts and Figures: UW Botanic Gardens

Students at UW Botanic Gardens

• UW Botanic Gardens contains the largest wetland complex in the City of Seattle, and Washington’s only state arboretum.

• UW Botanic Gardens’ nationally renowned living plant collection contains over 10,000 specimens.

• The Washington Park Arboretum’s plant collections include 139 endangered and threatened species and over 240 state champion trees.

• Merrill Hall, at the Center for Urban Horticulture, is a certified green building (LEED Silver).

• UW Botanic Garden’s Rare Plant Care and Conservation Program partners with more than 20 agencies to monitor rare plant populations.

• UW Botanic Gardens participates in the Millennium Seed Bank Project, a global effort to collect and conserve seeds from 10 percent of the world’s seed-bearing plants.

• Volunteers give more than 10,000 hours of time to UW Botanic Gardens each year and participate in everything from identifying plants to leading tours.  If you are interested in volunteering, see information for volunteers on the UW Botanic Gardens Web site.

•  UW Botanic Gardens has downloadable trail maps of the Washington Park Arboretum and the Center for Urban Horticulture gardens.

• UW Botanic Gardens’ Elisabeth C. Miller Library is the most important horticultural library in the Pacific Northwest, housing more than 15,000 books, 200 magazine subscriptions, 1,000 nursery catalogs and video and electronic resources.

• The Union Bay Natural Area, at the Center for Urban Horticulture, with 74 acres and four miles of shoreline, serves as an outdoor laboratory for UW research and as a publicly accessible wildlife habitat where more than 200 bird species have been sighted.

• UW Botanic Gardens’ public education programs offer a wide variety of classes for everyone from beginning home gardeners to horticulture professionals and include youth and family programs and community outreach activities.

• The Washington Park Arboretum will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2009! Visit the UW Botanic Gardens Web site for information about upcoming events, including lectures, tours and exhibits.