t united stateshe botanic garden is an old institution with fascinating roots. it may not seem obvious today, but the founding fathers were quite unified in their insistence on the creation of a national 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 inst