Season's Greenings 2019

Season's Greenings: America's Gardens!

November 28, 2019 - January 5, 2020

Join us to explore botanic gardens from Hawaii to Maine in this year’s Season’s Greenings holiday show! Plant based recreations of conservatories, fountains, and sculptures will fill the model train room. These will include iconic gardens scenes like Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s vibrant red Japanese torii gate, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens’ flamingo topiaries, Missouri Botanical Garden’s famous Climatron conservatory, and Huntsville Botanical Garden’s Rocket Gardenfeaturing NASA space nodes and rockets! The Conservatory will be filled with thousands of flowers, including a showcase of heirloom and newly developed poinsettia varieties. Our collection of D.C. landmarks made from plant materials will return to fill the Garden Court, and the West Gallery will feature a decorated tree with its own model train. Join us as we celebrate the holidays and America’s beautiful and diverse public gardens.

Hours and Holiday Concerts

The Conservatory is open every day of the year, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free of charge. The best times to visit Season’s Greenings are weekdays early in December. On select Tuesday and Thursday evenings in December, the Conservatory is open until 8 p.m. with live seasonal music. Please travel lightly, as the Conservatory is not equipped to store personal items. You must keep strollers and all personal items with you at all times. More information about visiting (directions, etc.) »

See the holiday evening concert series schedule »

Holiday Gift Shop and Hot Beverages

Two new elements this year courtesy of the Friends of the U.S. Botanic Garden (Friends) will be a gift shop and coffee, tea, and hot chocolate available for purchase on the front terrace near the wait line for the model train display. The Friends' gift shop will offer items such as ornaments, post cards, chocolates, books, and other educational and botanical gift items, and will be open every day from Dec. 5 through Dec. 23. The Friends' hot beverage stand will be run by local coffee roaster Zeke's Coffee and will be open all weekends throughout the exhibit and daily December 13-January 1. Proceeds from the gift shop and beverage stand will benefit education programs at the USBG.

Accessibility - Access Pass

During Season's Greenings, the annual holiday show, the U.S. Botanic Garden experiences high visitation, especially through the model train display which requires a separate entry point. Individuals that are unable to wait in line due to physical, sensory-processing and/or brain-based disabilities and their companions, may request, in advance, an access pass to advance through the line. As a courtesy, we ask that you limit the party size to six individuals. At this time, all access passes must be requested in-person at the information desk. For additional information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Photography

We welcome – and encourage – personal photography at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Due to the increased number of visitors to the Garden during Season’s Greenings, tripods cannot be used on throughout the run of the exhibit.

We do not allow visitors to do photoshoots or videoshoots at the Garden. Please read the full Photography and Art Policy for more details.

Entrances

During Season’s Greenings, there are two entrances to the Conservatory at the front of the building on Maryland Avenue SW.

The Model Train Entrance provides entry to the model train exhibit. After you’ve seen the trains, you can view the rest of the Season’s Greenings exhibit throughout the Conservatory.
The Conservatory Entrance bypasses the main train display and provides entry to the rest of the Conservatory. You’ll find seasonal plant displays throughout the Conservatory, replicas of the capital’s landmark buildings in the Garden Court, and one of the largest indoor decorated trees in Washington, D.C.

In short, if you want to see the model trains, please use the Model Train Entrance.

Tours

Group tours are not offered during Season's Greenings, but resume in January each year after the holiday exhibit is over.

Attractions Featured in the 2019 "America's Gardens" exhibit at U.S. Botanic Garden

This year's holiday show will feature models representing 24 public gardens from around the United States -- all made from plants and natural materials!

Building Guide - Materials and Trivia

Learn about the plants that make up our famous DC landmarks buildings:

DC landmarks Building Materials Guide (U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial...)

Poinsettias

Learn about our 3,000+ plant poinsettia display -- showcasing heirloom varieties all the way to newly developed ones yet to come onto the market!

Learn more >

Ornaments from Gardens across America

Public gardens are a crucial place for educating people about plants. We have two special trees decorated with ornaments representing the diversity of the more than 800 public gardens found across the United States. The U.S. Botanic Garden is a member of both American Public Gardens Association and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, professional organizations for the field of public horticulture. Explore the ornaments from gardens across the country:

Gardens with ornaments on our special trees:

Archive of previous holiday shows

Looking for information about previous Season's Greenings shows? Check the archive:

2014: Season's Greenings: Lighthouses (November 27, 2014 - January 4, 2015)

Holiday cheer abounds at the U.S. Botanic Garden! Despite the cold winter outside, the Conservatory boasts a tropical paradise, one of the largest indoor decorated trees in Washington, D.C. and a showcase of poinsettia and their plant cousins. It wouldn’t be the winter holiday season without the fantasy train display in the East Gallery, which chugs along a track through imaginative structures created with plant materials. Explore the seven seas, using lighthouses to navigate your way through this year’s scenic wonderland. Many of the capital’s landmark buildings, all made from natural materials, will be on display in the Garden Court. Come in from the cold and enjoy the sights, scents, and sounds of Season’s Greenings.

2015: Season's Greenings: Pollination Station
2016: Season's Greenings: National Parks and Historic Places
2017: Season's Greenings: Roadside Attractions
2018: Season's Greenings: All Aboard!