botanic garden was en vogue. today we typically set botanical garden. -- say botanical garden. so, after george washington laid out a vision for the united states botanic garden in the late 1700's, there was not too much action. the country was going through a lot of changes. we were setting in on a location for the capitol, for the white house, l'enfant the city planner for washington, d.c., was famous for laying out his design for the city that was going to be realized. and we had a lot going on. there was the war of 1812, and several other major occurrences that made the overall planning or execution of the planning of washington, d.c., take more time in than the founding fathers had intended. the united states botanic garden, after being endorsed by george washington, got a much-needed shot in the arm from another founding father in james madison. james madison was a prominent member of an institution early on in the history of washington, d.c., called the colombian institute. it was a gentlemanly, scholarly society that was dedicated to the dissemination of natural history information. in many ways, it was akin to the american philosophica

botanic garden. i would like to begin the story of the united states botanic garden in 1796 when george washington wrote a letter in which he laid out his vision for a federal university and the federal botanical garden. he was quite adamant as the chief executive at the time that it be near the presidents house, the white house. unfortunately, washington never live to see the botanic garden realized within his lifetime, nor did the vegas garden get put near the white house. eventually it was created as part of the united states capitol complex. i should note one interesting thing if i may, as a point otf syntax, i will always try to say botanic garden. in the generic sense talking about generic botanical gardens. botanic and botanical can be used interchangeably. whether or not they were used in the naming is more a function of the time period in which that institution was named. when united states botanic garden was named in the 1850's, botanic garden was en vogue. today we typically set botanical garden. so, after george washington laid out a vision for the united states botanic garden in the l ate 1

it is important to the botanic garden because the first united states botanic garden was on this piece of land, even though today it is most notably associated with the reflecting pool and memorial to grant. what i would like to do today is present a little bit of the early history of the united states botanic garden, so a show a couple of the remaining trees that date back to the original botanic garden location, and also talk about the process by which the botanic garden came to be. it eventually moved across the street from where it is currently, and a little about the famous fountain that originally was placed here by congress and also made its way two blocks south in the 20th century. we are open 355 days a year, 356 on leap years, free of charge. we get visitors from all over the world. we aim to delight people in the wonders of plants and put a smile on your face. and with that smile, we believe we can educate about some of the wonders and services the plant kingdom provides to human beings. >> the political landscape has changed with the 114 congress. there are also 100 eight w

american artifacts is it museums and historic places established by congress in 1820, the united states botanic garden itself is garden in america. next, we will take a two or -- tour and learn about the collections of the plant museum originally proposed by washington in 1776. >> welcome to the united states spoke in article garden. -- botanic garden. >> my name is ari novy. i am the executive director of the united states botanic garden. we are standing on union square, which is the end cap of the national mall on the east side just before you arrive at the united states capital. i will introduce you to the stars and the other wonderful plants that we have here today. we are standing in a room called the garden court. i was like to orient people when we come in. one of the most important elements are those that you see here in the front. very prominently displayed. the first thing you see when you walk into the botanic gardens. they represent a part of that historical collection. it came to existence as a permanent institution in 1842 when the united states x loring x edition, also sometimes called

eight is important to the botanic garden because the first united states botanic garden was on this pieceof land even though today it is most notably associated with the reflecting pool and memorial to grant. what i would like to do today is present a little bit of the early history of the united states botanic garden, so a couple of the remaining trees that date back to the original botanic garden location, and also talk about the process by which the botanic garden came to be. eventually moved across the street from where it is currently and a little about the famous fountain that originally was placed here by congress and also made its way to blocks south in the 20th century. we are open 355 days a year 306 the last 356 on leap years, free of charge. we get visitors from all over the world. we aim to delight people in the wonders of plants and put a smile on your face. and with that smile we believe we can educate about some of the wonders and services the plant kingdom provides to human beings. >> here are some of our featured programs this weekend on the c-span networks. tonight at 1

of this museum originally proposed by president washington in 1796. >> welcome to the united states botanic garden. i am the executive director here. my name is ari novy. the botanic garden is a wonderful place to come and learn about plants. our official mission is to demonstrate to the public the importance of plants and their value to the time. today, i'm going to show you a little bit about the u.s. botanic garden and introduce you to the stars of the conservatory . those are the wonderful plant specimens we have today. right now we are standing in a room called the garden court. i like to orient people to the garden court when we come in. one of the most important elements are the twc in the front prominently displayed. they are incredibly important for us because we represent a part of our historical collection. the u.s. botanic garden came into existence in some ways as a permanent institution in 1842 when the united states exploring expedition returned from a four-year voyage on the pacific ocean at the behest of congress, mainly doing surveying, but also picked up a lot of artifacts inclu

this plant museum, originally proposed by president washington in 1796. >> welcome to the united states botanic garden. the u.s. botanic garden is a wonderful place to come and learn about plants. our motto could be plants plants, plants. our official mission is to demonstrate to the public the importance of plants and their value to humankind. today we are going to take some time, and i'm going to show you about the u.s. botanic gardens, and introduce you to the stars of the conservancy. right now we are standing in a room called the garden court. i always like to orient people to the garden court initially when we come in. one of the most important elements are the two you see here in the front prominently displayed. they are incredibly important for us, because they represent a part of our historical collection. the u.s. botanic garden came into existence in some ways is a permanent institution in 1842 when the united states exploring expedition, also sometimes called the wilkes expedition, returned from a four-year voyage in the pacific ocean at the behest of congress, mainly doing some surveying,

established by congress in 19 -- in 1820, the united states botanic garden is the oldest garden in america. next we will take a tour and learn about collections of this museum, originally proposed by president washington. >> welcome to the united states

botanic garden. my name is ari novy. i am the executive director of the united states botanic garden. our official mission is to demonstrate to the public the importance of plants and their value to humankind. today were going to take some time and i'm going to show you a little bit about the botanic garden and introduce you to the stars, those are the wonderful plants that we have here today. right now were standing in a room called the garden court. always like to orient people to

the united states botanic garden is the oldest botanic garden in north america. next, we take a tour of the conservancy at the foot of capitol hill and learn about the collections of this plant museum, originally proposed by president washington in 1796. >> my name is ari novy. i'm the director here. the botanic garden is a wonderful place to learn about plants. our motto could be plants plants, plants. our official mission is to demonstrate the importance of plants and their values to humankind. today, we are going to take some time and i will show you the u.s. botanic gardens and introduce you to the stars. right now, we're standing in a room called the garden court. i always like to orient people to the garden court when we come in. one of the most important elements are the two's eye cats that you see in the front. the first things you see when you walk inside the botanic gardens. they are important for us because they represent a part of our historical collection. the u.s. botanic garden came to existence as a permanent institution 1842 when united states ex

botanic gardens. they are important for us because they represent a part of our historical collection. the u.s. botanic garden came to existence as a permanent institution 1842 when united states exploring expedition returned from a four-year voyage in the pacific ocean at the behest of congress and picked up a bunch of natural science artifacts. in 1842, when the expedition returned, they had about 150 tropical and subtropical plant species, many of which had never been on the north american continent. this was very very valuable. his collection of plants was recognized by congress. funds were appropriated for a temporary greenhouse structure to house them while a permanent u.s. botanic garden could be built. we still have a couple of plants that are direct descendents of those plants. the plants we just looked at the one on the left is one of the original wilts plants. -- wilkes plants. it has become a relatively important tree species in terms of ornamental tree in the tropical parts of the united states, specifically in southern florida. i'm going to use some terms about how we grow plants and maintain plant lines. some are more technical and less technical. vegetative pro

established by congress in 19 -- in 1820, the united states botanic garden is the oldest garden in america. next we will take a tour and learn about collections of this museum, originally proposed by president washington. >> welcome to the united states botanic garden. my name is ari novy. i am the executive director of the united states botanic garden. our motto could be plants plans, plans, but our official mission is to demonstrate the importance of plants to the public and their value. today we will take some time and i will show you a little bit about the botanic gardens and introduce you to the stars of the conservatory and those other wonderful plants we have here today. right now we are standing in a room called the garden courts. i always liked to orient people to the garden court initially when we come in, and one of the most important elements are the two spike heads you see in front. very prominently displayed. the first things you see. they are incredibly important for us, because they represent part of our historic collection. the u.s. botanic garden came into existence in so

the grounds of the oldest botanic garden in north america to learn about the history of this plant museum. >> my name is ari novy. i am the executive director of the united states botanic garden. we are standing on union square, which is the end cap of the national mall on the east side just before you arrive at the united states capital. it is a fascinating piece of land because it has gone through many transformations in terms of what has been here over the course of the history of

it is important for the botanic garden because the first united states botanic garden was actually on this piece of land, even though today is most noticeably associated with the capital's reflecting pool. what i would like to do today is to present a little bit of the early history of united states botanic garden show the remaining trees that dates back to the original botanic garden location and also talk about the process on which the botanic garden came to the and eventually moved across the street from where it currently is and a very famous fountain that was placed here by congress and also made his way to block south. -- made its way two blocks south. free we -- we are free of charge and we get and not only americans from every corner of our wonderful country but visitors from all over the world. we aim here to delight people and the wonders of plants and put a smile on your face and then went that smile, we believe we can educate about some of the wonders and services the plant kingdom provides human beings. >> you're watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on

botanic garden. my name is ari novy. i am the executive director of the united states botanic garden. our official mission is to demonstrate to the public the importance of plants and their value to humankind. today were going to take some time and i'm going to show you a little bit about the botanic garden and introduce you to the stars, those are the wonderful plants that we have here today. right now were standing in a room called the garden court. always like to orient people to the garden court will become in. one of the most important elements are the two cycads we see here prominently displayed. they are incredibly important for us because they represent a part of our historical collection. u.s. botanic garden came into existence in some ways as a permanent institution in 1842 when the u.s. exploring expedition surveying but also returned from a four-year voyage at the behest of congress, mainly doing some surveying, but they also take up all bunch of scientific artifacts including living plant specimens. when the expedition returned, they had about 150 fascinating tropical and