YELLOWSTONE ARBORETUM
" Stewards of the Natural Environment "
Billings, Montana @ ZooMontana
The Botanical Gardens !
Explore over a dozen botanical garden sites throughout the grounds offering a wonderful seasonal opportunity for the senses. Plants and trees are maintained by volunteers of both the ZooMontana Botanical Society and the Yellowstone Arboretum. The gardens offer color, textures and natural beauty at their best. All sites are fully connected by pathways that lead to a myriad of both native and non-native displays open year-round. Here's a look at some of the featured gardens.
Click here for quick tour of all of the botanical gardens !
"Jane Reger Sensory Garden"
The Jane Reger Sensory Garden is a 40,000 square foot sunken garden protected by mature Spruce, Pine and Native Cottonwood trees. The garden was named after Jane Reger, the visionary who established the first gardens at ZooMontana. The garden is a sensory delight enhanced with roses, peonies, seasonal color and trees from different parts of the world. Features include a fountain and waterfall and the space is accented with memorial benches for a quiet respite !
"Foster Waterfowl Refuge"
Native Wood's Rose
As the largest native plant garden in Montana, the Foster Waterfowl Refuge offers a natural fly-through space for migrating waterfowl in an urban setting. Ponds, boardwalks, a raised observation deck and an underwater fish aquarium are surrounded by over 1200 native Montana plants and trees. This immersive experience in wetlands conservation is the first of it's kind in Montana !
"Dottie's Garden"
Established in 1999, Dottie's Water-Wise Garden is a living memorial to Dottie Barnett. This intimate Xeriscaped garden contains plants that require little water and also suits our Montana climate. The garden lies on the upper banks of Canyon Creek and offers wonderful shady benches in which visitors can enjoy pollinators at work and witness the soothing waters of the creek !
"Children's Garden"
Located on the South Plaza on the way to the playground, the Children's Garden offers a whimsical diversion for kids of all ages. Brightness abounds with the centerpiece color wheel planted with annuals. Here you can also find perennials with fun names and watch butterflies flutter from flower to flower. All this amidst the many animal sculptures scattered in the garden and along Canyon Creek !