roses

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The U.S. Botanic Garden is Always in Bloom

Right next to bustling Capitol Hill is haven of breathtaking flowers, roses and gardens at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Tracing its beginnings to 1816, The U.S. Botanic Garden the oldest of its kind in North America.

It is divided into three locations: the Conservatory, Bartholdi Park, and the National Garden. The newly renovated Conservatory is one big greenhouse divided into separate rooms and holds over 4,000 living species. Each room simulates a different habitat and contains various types of plants that ordinarily would not survive in Washington D.C., from desert species to Southern plants to medicinal plants.

Bartholdi Park serves as a home landscape demonstration garden and is home to a beautiful fountain that is 30 feet high. There is also the National Garden, which contains the Rose Garden and the First ladies Water Garden, as well as an outdoor amphitheater.

3. Tournament of Roses: Rose Parade & Rose Bowl 1/1/10.

The Tournament of Roses is so big that it’s broken into two major events, with each having their own nickname. The Rose Bowl Parade is affectionately known as “America’s New Year’s Celebration” and the Rose Bowl Game as “The Grandaddy of Them All.” Celebrating the culmination of the college football season, the Tournament of Roses brings together the top of the Big Ten and Pacific-10 teams and is consistently the highest attended football game.
If you’re not a fan of football, but still want to celebrate, the Parade is an internationally televised event featuring universally loved floats, marching bands, and celebrities. So get up and smell the Roses!

The Conservatory of Flowers’ Flying Flowers

From potted plants to those that live in water to those suspended in the air, The Conservatory of Flowers houses almost 2,000 different species of tropical and colorful plants and flowers.

In the Aquatic Plants gallery, a giant art installation of glass and metal can be viewed, but that’s not what draws in the crowds. An authentic and rare Victoria Amazonic water lily hangs suspended in the air! Its leaves can support the weight of a small child!

The Highland Tropics gallery of the Conservatory is world-renowned for its collection of delicate high-altitude orchids, which grow on the bark of gnarled trees. You may want to bring a cardigan, since the gallery’s temperature mimics that of misty cloudy forests of tropical mountaintops.

Step into the Lowland Tropics gallery and notice its steamy, humid, rainforest-esque atmosphere. This gallery is home to Phil, the 100-year-old giant Imperial Philodendron, and Cycads that pre-date the dinosaurs.

It’s not all plants and flowers at the Conservatory. Be sure to visit the Butterfly Zone where you can see these colorful insects at work in a picture perfect surrounding of beautiful blossoms.