University of Maryland Arboretum and Botanical Garden

University of Maryland Arboretum and Botanical Garden This is the official page of the University of Maryland Arboretum and Botanical Garden Mote, Jr.’s commitment to becoming a green campus.

The University of Maryland, the state’s flagship campus, is located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The American Association of Public Gardens, by designating the university as an arboretum and botanical garden in 2008, recognized then President C.D. Maryland is also the first university in the state to be honored as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. The 1,250 acre UMD Arboretum

and Botanical Garden is a campus-wide arboretum with 800 landscaped acres and 400 acres of undeveloped urban forest. Our gardens are a beautiful reminder of Maryland’s history and a harbinger of Maryland’s future. The university sees our campus green space as a research and teaching space. Through exemplary practices of environmental stewardship, horticulture and urban forestry, the Arboretum and Botanical Garden will enhance the campus’ aesthetic and promote awareness of conservation and preservation of our natural environment for the enrichment of the university community, the citizens of Maryland and our visitors.

'Flamenco Rosita' Shrub Rose is performing quite nicely at the north end of Van Munching Hall, the home of the Smith Sch...
09/02/2026

'Flamenco Rosita' Shrub Rose is performing quite nicely at the north end of Van Munching Hall, the home of the Smith School of Business. It is one of the few disease resistant modern shrub roses to have an attractive, strong fragrance. It seems that often breeding for disease resistance means that you lose good fragrance.

photos and post by Sam Bahr, horticulturist

Large-flowered Hibiscus (Hibiscus grandiflorus) is now in full bloom on Tawes Plaza. It is a native of swampy areas nea...
08/31/2026

Large-flowered Hibiscus (Hibiscus grandiflorus) is now in full bloom on Tawes Plaza. It is a native of swampy areas near the coasts of the southeastern United States. It is doing reasonably well in this irrigated area that is not swampy. The leaves are covered with tiny hairs that may give it protection from some insects that are a problem on other species of Hibiscus.

photos and post by Sam Bahr, horticulturist

'White Pearl in Red Dragon's Mouth' China Rose ('Chi Long Han Zhu' China Rose) generally has small flowers; however, som...
08/28/2026

'White Pearl in Red Dragon's Mouth' China Rose ('Chi Long Han Zhu' China Rose) generally has small flowers; however, sometimes it throws a few larger flowers.

The name stems from a Chinese legend according to Barbara Oliva. The name came from a legend of a red dragon who dwelt within the Imperial Palace. At night, the dragon flies out over the Land of China, seeking Virtue. When he finds it, he takes it back to the Emperor, in the form of a glowing Pearl, held gently in the Dragon's flaming mouth. If you look into a freshly-opened bloom, you will see the red of the dragon's in-curving mouth, the flaming yellow stamens, and the white pearl of an "eye" at the center.

The Long in the name refers to a traditional Chinese Dragon. According to someone I met on campus visiting from China, the Chinese name means that the pearl is always in the Dragon's mouth.

photos and post by Sam Bahr, horticulturist

This Northern Mockingbird appears to be endorsing Meg's Bird Campus USA sign in Mowatt Circle. While some birds prefer ...
08/27/2026

This Northern Mockingbird appears to be endorsing Meg's Bird Campus USA sign in Mowatt Circle. While some birds prefer seeds, other prefer worms such as Robins.

The landscape area around the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (CSPAC) has been maintained for around 17 years with organic products only, for many years under the direction of Jeff Weiser. Early this summer, six Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees were planted on the back side of CSPAC. This area is a haven for Robins because of the large number of worms living in the healthy soil there. Within 30 minute of planting a small Coastal Redwood, a Robin was already resting in it, on the lookout for worms. With the very first watering, a Robin was my buddy, carefully listening for worms that may have been disturbed by my watering and headed to the surface of the soil to get away from excessive water. The Robin let me get quite close to it, including when it was bathing in the shallow water inside of a tree ring immediately after that I watered.

This video is possibly of the same Robin, a couple of months later, still finding plenty of worms as I was watering today. Not sure it recognizes my voice when I say 'Hello Robin'; however, it does not seem to be scared by my voice either.

photo, video and post by Sam Bahr, horticulturist

08/20/2026

Sometimes things go bump during the middle of the night! Other times they just glide smoothly by with the help of a massive truck! Testing of the Purple Line has been going on now for about 3-4 months according to one of the workers blocking the intersection so the train could go safely by without needing to stop.

video and post by Sam Bahr, horticulturist

08/18/2026

Can you believe that this armored critter is a firefly larva? If fireflies themselves weren't already fascinating, their first stage of life is just as unique. They also produce light, but from two spots at the end tip of their segmented body. Unlike the adult firefly, the light is used to alarm predators instead of for mating displays. Adults also live for a few weeks to mate, but the larvae can live up to two years.

This individual is of the genus Pyractomena, which has evolved to be expert snail predators. Their narrow heads fit perfectly in their shells to devour the innards! Most larval species can immobilize their prey with a paralyzing toxin, then they deliver a enzyme that liquifies their meal.

Keep an eye out for them in early to mid-fall. They do reside underground, but can be found in leaf-litter and climbing up tree trunks or vegetation.

See more at the Maryland Biodiversity Project:
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/species/10282

Observation © Kyle Klotz · some rights reserved via iNaturalist:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/299562669

08/17/2026

This video shows the location of the tall grass prairie located behind the clubhouse of the University of Maryland Golf Course. This one acre prairie was created on bare ground in the spring of 2018 using native plant seeds. It has been an amazing experience to watch the evolution of this prairie over the years. In the initial years, Indian Grass dominated in a big way. However, now, there is very little Indian Grass to be found. The diversity of this prairie has increased dramatically over the years as the golf course has purchased additional seed every year to be sown in the first week of December, which allows natural cold/moist stratification of those seeds that require it.

Starting at 28 seconds, look in the background and you can see a gust of wind approaching as evidenced by the tossing of the tall grasses like a wave on the ocean. It moves up the edge of the prairie like an approaching train on a track.

This tall grass prairie is not open to the public as it is right next to a series of tees, making it a dangerous location for the public. However, this tall grass prairie continues a long tradition at the golf course of providing a beneficial habitat for a number of different kinds of wildlife. We will continue to share photos from time to time of this tall grass prairie since it is off limits to public viewing.

video and post by Sam Bahr, horticulturist

Ginger Lily season has opened in the small courtyard on the west side of the Benjamin Building. Daniel Weeks Hardy Ging...
08/17/2026

Ginger Lily season has opened in the small courtyard on the west side of the Benjamin Building. Daniel Weeks Hardy Ginger Lily (Hedychium 'Daniel Weeks') is the best Ginger Lily that we have found so far for our area. It starts blooming in mid-August and can continue to bloom continuously through frost. The fragrance on this one is strong in the evening; however, very little fragrance is emitted during the day.

In warmer areas to the southeast of our location in College Park, you may not even need to add mulch to get it to survive the winter. However, here and in colder areas to the northwest of us it is advisable to add a thick layer of protective mulch after cutting it back to 6 inches during the Thanksgiving holiday break and removing the protective mulch the last week in March. It will not grow for quite a while after uncovering; however, uncovering keeps it from rotting.

If you have an ornamental ginger that survives the winter outdoors in our area that starts blooming in the summer, please let us know the identity of it. One of my favorites for beauty and fragrance starts blooming in October, just before getting hit by frost. We no longer have this one because of the incredibly short time that it has to bloom before frost and it is not as cold hardy as the Daniel Weeks.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hedychium-daniel-weeks/

photos and post by Sam Bahr, horticulturist

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3931 Stadium Drive
College Park, MD
20742

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