It can contain collections of specialized plants, such as cacti and other succulents, herb gardens, plants from certain parts of the world, etc. There may be greenhouses, shady houses, also with special collections such as tropical plants, alpine plants or other exotic plants. A botanical garden is a place where plant collections are cultivated, managed and maintained. Plants are often labeled and available for scientific study by students and for public observation.
An arboretum is a garden composed primarily of trees, vines, and shrubs. Gardens usually keep collections of seeds stored in special facilities called seed banks. Many gardens maintain special collections of preserved plants, known as herbariums, which are used to identify and classify unknown plants. Laboratories for the scientific study of plants and classrooms are also common.
The Garden's most notable collections include inexpensive plants, medicinal plants, orchids, carnivorous plants, cacti and other succulents, aroids, plants from Eastern North America, bromeliads, cycads and ferns. Founded in 1937, the Southwest climate allows the garden to cultivate and display in a natural environment plants that could not survive anywhere else in the United States. The medical teachers were mainly the botanists of the time, and their “physical gardens” were used both for training students and for the cultivation of plants for the manufacture of medicines. Colonial powers used to use botanical gardens to cultivate exotic spices and products, but due to the relatively cold climate of the colonial United States, gardens designed for foreign trade were never as common as in India, Malaysia or the West Indies.
The Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, were initially part of the estate of Henry Huntington, who began working on his botanical gardens in 1903 and officially founded the gardens in 1912. These plants were chosen because they provide an opportunity to address research problems; The garden is already strong in these plants; there is sufficient curatorial support to acquire, develop, study and disseminate information about these groups; they are adapted to Midwestern growth conditions; they are aesthetic and are relevant to Visitors and consumers of the Garden. The gardener, plant health care specialist, garden and land supervisor and plant curator evaluate roses annually to determine their performance in the USBG climate and their response to minimal or no chemical treatment. Nowadays, botanical gardens and arboretums are mainly dedicated to the cultivation of plants and the exhibition of ornamental plants and groups of plants of special interest.
Botanical gardens and arboretums can be established independently, be part of a government agency, or connected to a college or university. Since then, the classical botanical garden as a teaching and medicinal garden has been declining, to be replaced by gardens dedicated mainly to the cultivation of plants and the exhibition of ornamental plants and groups of plants of special interest. As a museum, the Chicago Botanical Garden is dedicated to building its permanent collections, which are its objects. This collection helps conserve species by keeping their germplasm in cultivation, sharing collections with other gardens when appropriate and legally permitted, and educating the public about the diversity, plight and importance of rare and endangered plants.
The first attempt to involve botanical gardens around the world in coordinated conservation efforts was made in 1987 with the founding of the Secretariat for the Conservation of Botanical Gardens. The garden is famous for its scientific research; climate change, molecular biology, plant diseases and biodiversity are studied. The Garden's permanent plant collections cover 385 acres and currently contain more than 2.8 million living plants. However, throughout American history, botanical gardens have stimulated American agriculture by providing seeds for many commercial plants.
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