Light shows and exhibitions abound all around the world during the winter holiday season. While the cold keeps gardens growing their slowest (or not at all), it’s odd to think of visiting botanical gardens during this time of year. However, not all botanical gardens go into winter hibernation. During the winter holiday, the US Botanic Garden host their “Season’s Greenings” winter attraction from late November throughout December. This year, I had the delightful opportunity to visit. It was well worth the trip and I highly recommend it if you’re near the District of Columbia during the holiday season.

Festive Season’s Greenings Botanical Displays

I’ve spent most of this month talking about the poinsettia plant, both of the Poinsettia History: How a Mexican Flower Became a Symbol of the Holiday Season, and a funny (and true) Poinsettia Holiday Story. Not to be left out, the US Botanic Garden showcases more than a dozen species of poinsettia plants that surround miniature sculptures of iconic Washington DC landmarks. All the landmarks are made out of plant pieces and accompanied with plaques. Each plaque explains the kinds of plants used in construction. And I particularly enjoyed the photographs of the plant pieces that made up the models too.

Species of Poinsettias at the US Botanic Garden

This being a garden blog, I’ll start with the many kinds of poinsettias displayed during the Season’s Greenings exhibit. Each of the poinsettias displayed are varied and beautiful. Some are even highly surprising. The Season’s Greenings exhibit displays so many varieties that it’s difficult to know if you’ve seen them all. I counted 14 different varieties and I’m sure I missed some. Below are the varieties that caught my eye:

Alaska White

Stunning crisp white bracts show off above white leaves with green veins. Next to all the classic red poinsettia, this variety is a beautiful accent.

Christmas Beauty Red

A medium-sized variety with small yellow flowers that give the red bracts a majority of the space to shine.

Christmas Candle

Deep red bracts with a wider center that shows off larger yellow flowers. This is doubtless meant to give off the appearance of a flame in the center.

Christmas Mouse Red

A dwarf red poinsettia that’s so compact it doesn’t appear to grow larger than a foot in diameter. An adorable accent among so many other giant varieties.

Early Elegance Marble

White bracts with pink centers surround classic yellow flowers. The leaves below are a pale green rather than the deep green of more traditional varieties.

Ecke White

Standing over 6 feet tall, the Ecke White poinsettia takes its name from the original poinsettia growers, the Ecke Ranch Company who made poinsettias a holiday staple in America by donating plants to television stations for them to display on the air from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Frozen White

The vibrant yellow flowers of the Frozen White Poinsettia really stand out surrounded by snow white bracts that really do look like newly fallen snow.

Jester Red

The smallest of the poinsettias in the Season’s Greenings exhibit, Jester Red sports tiny bracts in clusters that are about the size of an American penny. this poinsettia acts more as a groundcover than a showy statement of the holidays, but it’s no less festive for its size.

Lemon Glow

In a landscape of red and white poinsettias, the Lemon Glow poinsettia really stands out. In fact, I spotted this specimen from across the conservatory. Bright yellow bracts are so showy they overshadow the central yellow flowers.

Oak Leaf

There’s no doubt why this poinsettia is named after a giant tree. Unlike most of the other poinsettias in the exhibit, the Oak Leaf Poinsettia stands about 5 to 6 feet tall. Because it has elongated red bracts and large clusters of bright yellow flowers, it’s a showstopper.

Prestige Red

The quintessential plant that comes to everyone’s mind when you say poinsettia. The Prestige Red is not the tallest, smallest, or even the most eye-catching of the poinsettias in the Season’s Greenings exhibit. But somehow the Prestige Red poinsettia still falls right in the sweet spot to be proud and perfect in every way.

Princettia Sparkling Rose

A perfect blend of red and white poinsettia, the Princettia Sparkling Rose shows off light to dark pink bracts in the classic pinwheel arrangement. So unlike most of the other colors in the exhibit, this splash of purple is eye-catching.

St. Louis

Smaller than the Prestige Red, but larger than the Christmas Mouse Red, the St. Louis is an elegant classic poinsettia.

Superba New Glitter

Red and white bracts look like a classic red poinsettia has been splattered with white paint Jackson Pollock style. Because they’re so unique and bold, this variety is probably one of my favorites at the Season’s Greenings exhibit.

Winter Rose Dark Red

Rather than trying to be big and bold, or small and sweet, the Winter Rose Dark Red has a quality to it the others just can’t match. Smaller bracts are thinner and curlier than the common poinsettia and so appear more delicate and softer than their peers.

Landmarks of Washington D.C.

As beautiful as the poinsettias are, they aren’t the true centerpieces of the US Botanic Garden’s Season’s Greenings exhibit. The real exhibit is scattered throughout the interior of the conservatory. The US Botanic Garden showcases more than 20 DC landmarks made out of plant pieces. Bark, buds, flowers, fossils, fungi, gourds, grasses, leaves, pods, seeds, sticks, and other plant parts make up the walls, ceilings, doors, windows, sculptures, and all other decorative elements of iconic DC landmarks.

The descriptions of the materials come directly from the US Botanic Garden plaques that they erected near each model. The descriptions can also be found as a PDF at the US Botanic Garden’s own website.

The following pictures are by no means all of the amazing sculptures showcased at the Season’s Greenings exhibit. You should plan to visit yourself to see them! They’re so much more impressive in person. Rather than showcase them all, these are my top 10.

United States Botanic Garden

This being a gardening blog, of course I’ll start off with the model of the US Botanic Garden. Also, can you believe that there are electric lights inside this model? While you can’t see it well in this photo, if you visit in person, you’re sure to notice it.

Façade – horse chestnut bark, willow sticks
Faces – cinnamon, pine cone scales, grape tendrils, moss, bear paws, nigella, okra
Windows – willow sticks, rope, thatch reed

Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building

This is an impressive facade for sure! The intricacies of this model make this an incredible rendition. Because I’m a runner, I often encounter sweetgum pods on running trails. That they turned those spiky dangers to runners into the decorative tops of columns is impressive. I also loved the acorn lights.

Dome – gourd, grape tendrils, seagrass twine, chestnut bark, magnolia fruit stems, acorn caps, tree fern, basket cane, pine cone scales
Façade – elm bark, locust bark, fungi, pistachio shell
Lights – acorns, pine cones, eucalyptus pods, Australian pine fruits, cinnamon
Columns – willow sticks, pine cone scales, false cypress cones, bamboo, reeds
Windows – bamboo, cinnamon, acorns, eucalyptus pods, peppercorns, sweetgum fruits
Trim – birch bark, dusty miller, winged euonymus
Terrace – seagrape leaves

Jefferson Memorial

While we’re talking about Thomas Jefferson, how about a look at the Jefferson Memorial. It’s incredibly detailed with the statue of Jefferson in the center. Also, I was amused that the top of the Jefferson Memorial is a gourd cap.

Dome – gourd
President Jefferson – eucalyptus leaves, sycamore bark, mahogany pods, seagrass rope, coriander seed, grape tendrils, coat: cinnamon, vest: white birch bark, hair: lichens
Monument exterior – willow sticks, pine cone scales, reed, white birch bark
Columns – honeysuckle, cinnamon, sisal rope, nigella

Lincoln Memorial

Another famous memorial and landmark of Washington DC. This rendition looks all the more impressive with the figure of Lincoln sitting in his iconic chair. In fact, I couldn’t imagine this piece without it.

Monument exterior – seagrape leaves
President Lincoln – eucalyptus leaves, birch bark, corn husks, lichens, willow sticks, coriander seeds
Eagle – seagrape leaves, flower petals
Architectural details – burl oak, kangaroo pods, wheat, sisal rope, pine cone scales, cedar blocks, gourd, moss, cinnamon, eucalyptus pods, Australian pine fruit, grape tendrils

Smithsonian Castle

Surely, this is the signature building of the Smithsonian Institution. So it’s no wonder that the Season’s Greenings exhibit would be incomplete without it.

Roof – sycamore leaves, eucalyptus pods, pine cone scales, fungi, Australian pine fruits, honeysuckle, lotus pods
Columns – willow sticks, pine cone scales, acorns
Façade – willow sticks, bamboo, pine cone scales
Architectural details – grape tendrils, nigella, cinnamon, Australian tree fern

Union Station

This classic architecture of all train stations of its era across the continental United States. So it’s right at home in the Season’s Greenings exhibit.

Roof – cedar bark, reeds
Columns – mahogany fruit, willow, honeysuckle twigs, cinnamon, palm leaves, spruce twigs, oak bark
Trim – walnut bark, seagrass, cattails, willow reed, chaste tree seeds
Statues – corn husks, ring pods, tulip poplar seeds, Cedrela fruit, sago palm cone scales, palm flowers, cinnamon, birch bark, walnut shells, winged euonymus twigs, eucalyptus fruit, birch twigs, Dysoxlum fruit, zinnia flowers
Eagles – digger pine cone scales, Leucodendrum fruit, sago palm cone scales

U.S. Supreme Court

This is one of the most detailed models in the collection, the model of the U.S. Supreme Court does not disappoint. Like the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, it’s detailed that you can stand right next to it and still not notice which botanical parts make up the facade.

Figures – chestnut bark, acorns, beech nuts, cornhusk clothes, burning bush stems, shelf fungus
Roof – pine cone scales, willow sticks, burning bush
Columns – honeysuckle sticks, dusty miller, beech nut husks
Frieze – beech nuts, acorns, silver birch buds
Window grids and columns – cinnamon
Steps and terrace – seagrape leaves

Washington Monument

This model appears front and center when you enter the Season’s Greenings exhibit inside the US Botanic Garden Conservatory. Perhaps the most well-known of all the DC landmarks, it’s unsurprising it stands prominently at the entrance of the exhibit.

Architectural details – Sycamore leaves, seagrape leaves, moss

United States Capital Building

This iconic model stands in a proud location directly opposite the Washington Monument in at the Season’s Greenings exhibit. It is easily one of the most impressive pieces of architecture in Washington D.C. and the model does not disappoint.

Dome – sycamore leaves, willow sticks, seagrass twine, wheat, winged euonymus, fern fronds, kangaroo pods, screw pods, acorns, pine cone scales
Statue of Freedom and other figures – shelf fungus, corn husks, reeds, acorns, pine cone scales, grape tendrils, chestnut bark, beech nuts
Façade – horse chestnut, elm bark, pine cone scales
Columns – willow sticks, with tops (capitals) of dusty miller
Steps – horse chestnut bark
Windows – cinnamon, pine cone scales, wheat
Lamps – pods
Railings – winged euonymus
Architectural details – acorn caps, wheat, bamboo, raffia, basket cane

The White House

The only building more impressive than the US Capital Building has to be the iconic White House. At the Season’s Greenings exhibit, the White House is sequestered in one of the corners of the conservatory. Rather than surrounded solely by poinsettias, the exhibit surrounds the White House with paperwhite narcissus, another botanical symbol of the holiday season.

Fence – screw pod rails, cinnamon top
Bas-relief columns – palm frond stems, cinnamon curls
Porch columns – honeysuckle sticks, bear paw pods, hemlock cones
Window details – seagrape leaves, screw pods, shelf fungus, seagrass rope, pine cone scales, sycamore bark, horse chestnut bark
Garden – teardrop eucalyptus, Ming fern, Indian paintbrush, lichen, putka pods, strawflowers, wheat, mood moss

How to Get to the US Botanic Garden for their Season’s Greenings

The US Botanical Gardens is located off of 3rd Street and Independence Avenue. The main entrance is located off of Maryland street, about half a block north. There are signs everywhere on the National Mall with the handy “You Are Here” markers that help guide you.

While Washington DC is notorious for being difficult to get around, once you get into the National Mall proper, the reality doesn’t fully live up to the hype. You can drive easily enough and there are several parking structures throughout the downtown DC area for a fee. As a relative local, I’d recommend parking in the structures near the DC Wharf which accommodate a lot of public parking for the frequent concerts held at the Anthem (best if your car is on the smaller size, however). From there, it is a 30 minute walk or you can take one of the frequent busses to the National Mall. Uber and Lyft drivers frequently drive by that popular area so, unless a concert is just letting out, finding a rideshare is simple.

However, if you’re travelling from outlying areas of DC, the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is the way to go. Clean, efficient, and timely there’s really no better way to travel to downtown DC. The Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines all service the Federal Center SW station. So from there, it’s a simple 3 block walk to the US Botanic Garden.

Season’s Greenings from Eastborn Gardens

If you’re in the area of Washington DC during the holidays, I highly recommend that you make time to visit the annual Season’s Greenings exhibit at the United States Botanic Garden. After all, what I’ve shared here is only part of what awaits you at the conservatory and surrounding gardens. There’s also holiday model trains, models of garden pollinators made of similar plant parts to the DC landscape models, and of course the standing exhibits available all year round. Best of all, it’s completely free to the public.

Happy Holidays from Eastborn Gardens!