Asa Gray Garden
A Garden to Welcome and Inspire
Situated just inside the Cemetery’s Egyptian Revival Gateway, Asa Gray Garden serves as a focal point and gathering place for arriving visitors. Since the 1850s, this ornamental garden has evolved to reflect changing horticultural trends and landscape design styles. Today, visitors will find a garden that is equally welcoming, comforting, and inspiring, a reflection of Mount Auburn’s best qualities.
More than 170 species of trees, shrubs, flowering perennials, flowering annuals, bulbs, and grasses provide color, texture, and beauty in all four seasons. In the garden’s center, the Pierce Fountain evokes the meditative qualities of the Cemetery’s landscape. A series of radiating paths lead visitors through the garden, while benches encourage visitors to rest and reflect.
The legacy of botanist Asa Gray (1810 – 1888), the garden’s namesake,
is celebrated through a diverse mix of species native to either East Asia or Eastern North America. While working with herbarium specimens, Gray discovered the striking similarities between American and Asian plant species and used his research to hypothesize that these species descended from common ancestors. Several specific pairings within the garden now pay tribute to the “Father of American Botany.”
VISIT ASA GRAY GARDEN
Asa Gray Garden is located just inside the Cemetery Entrance on Lawn Avenue. Designated visitor parking on Lawn Avenue makes Asa Gray Garden a perfect place to start every visit to the Cemetery.
Until you can visit in person, explore Asa Gray Garden virtually.
More:
Mount Auburn President & CEO Dave Barnett and Landscape Architect Ricardo Austrich discuss the 2018 renovation of Asa Gray Garden with host Jennifer Jewell on her podcast Cultivating Place.
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