A Living Laboratory for Botanical Diversity
Currently in search of a permanent location, Portland Botanical Gardens will serve as a living laboratory, a refuge for botanical diversity, and an advocate for botanical preservation. The Garden aims to be a leader in horticultural training, climate change research, and environmental justice and equity in the greater Portland area.
The Gardens’ facilities plan includes biome-specific glasshouse conservatories and corresponding outdoor displays. Gardens will showcase flora from around the world—lowland tropics, desert, cloud forest and more, in addition to a focus on plants native to Oregon.
An extensive outdoor campus, including open greenspace and paths laid throughout the Garden will allow visitors to travel through the featured geographic areas. A Canopy Walk will allow visitors to stroll amongst the tops of Pacific Northwest conifers.
Educational programs will offer people of all ages opportunities for in-house training and certification classes, partnerships with local schools, colleges and universities, and connection to national programs.
Building the Garden in the 2020s allows its founders to implement modern, green initiatives into their operations plans from day one. They anticipate that the facility will be carbon neutral by 2030.