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dry creek bed in September

Cultivate your love of plants

COVID-19 UPDATE: UW Botanic Gardens grounds are open to visitors. Beginning March 28th, face coverings at our locations are optional following the UW COVID-19 Face Covering Policy.

The Center for Urban Horticulture, opened in 1984, is part of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens. It includes a 16-acre landscaped site with buildings and gardens, and the 74-acre Union Bay Natural Area, which provides publicly accessible wildlife habitat (more than 200 bird species have been sighted there) and an outdoor laboratory for UW research. The UW Botanic Gardens’ administrative offices are housed in Merrill Hall, along with associated faculty and research laboratories and greenhouses.

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    Join Us

    Visit

    The grounds are free to visit and open every day of the year.

    photo of books in the Library

    Activities

    Go bird watching in the Union Bay Natural Area, do research in the Miller Library or sign up for a class.

    Gardens

    The gardens at the Center represent the transition from intensively cultivated to natural spaces.

    Over sixty horticultural and environmental groups meet at the Center, which has meeting rooms, event venues, and greenhouse space available for rental to the general public. The rebuilt Merrill Hall, the first certified “green building” on the UW Seattle campus, houses the Botanic Gardens headquarters, the Elisabeth C. Miller Library and the Otis Douglas Hyde Herbarium.

    Gardens at the Center for Urban Horticulture   Learn more

     

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