This past Saturday I attended the tour of the Botanic Gardens with Rose House. As someone who has a fascination with plant ecology, particularly wildflowers, I have explored the gardens by myself in the past. They truly are beautiful, and I would recommend anyone and everyone—even if it isn’t typically their sort of thing—check them out as soon as possible, especially while the weather is still so incredible. Touring the gardens with a guide, however, was an entirely new experience. Suffice to say, I hope I get the chance to do it again!

The biggest thing the tour provided me that exploring the gardens by myself didn’t was historical context. There is so much more culture surrounding the Botanical Gardens than I had realized, and even in the brief hour we spent there I feel as though I learned so much. For example, I learned that the house with all the ivy growing over it used to be a schoolhouse for children in the Ithaca community, and that frequently people will come back to visit and see the place they spent so much time in as a kid. I also learned that the first woman to be independently awarded the nobel prize in medicine was a Barbara McClintock, an instructor noted for her research in “jumping genes.” Also, I learned that two of the central garden beds were dedicated to women who, in life, were very close friends. In a sense, they are still together even in death, which I find charmingly poetic.

I really enjoyed the experience, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to attend this tour. I would also love to tour the wildflower garden at some point in the future—the Botanical Gardens are so much bigger than people realize, and there is still so much left to explore.