Rest and recharge (yourself and your phone) among live plants. Research has shown that spending time around plants improves both mood and working memory, and just makes us feel better. This airy, light-filled space features benches and charging stations with outlets—and a distinct place, apart from the energized hustle and bustle of the rest of the museum, to relax and exhale.
Plants are vital to all land ecosystems—and to us. The Garden Lounge invites you to explore these connections, and learn why and how plants “move,” or disperse, to survive and thrive.
Our lives are intricately connected to plants.
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Did you know?
The cycad, a tree in the garden, is one of the oldest plants to exist on Earth
Look For
Vanilla planifolia, the plant that produces vanilla “beans,” climbing up a trellis
Orchids of many colors, staghorn ferns, and a tree-sized cycad—one of Earth’s oldest types of plants
Tree-stump seating and kid-focused text and graphics, all displayed at a child’s height
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Did you know?
SI Gardens, our partner for this exhibit, creates and manages all of the Smithsonian's outdoor gardens & interior live plants
Things To Do
Play a sliding-door interactive game to learn how seeds disperse.
Charge your mobile device.
Relax, breathe in deeply, exhale, and sit for a while!