[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 67 (Thursday, May 6, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S3353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING NATIONAL PUBLIC GARDENS DAY

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this May 7 is National Public Gardens Day, 
a day for us to celebrate the important role public gardens play in our 
communities and throughout our Nation. Across this great country, more 
than 500 public gardens are keeping our Nation connected to our natural 
world, our history, and our culture. These public gardens include 
arboreta, botanical gardens, zoos, historic landscapes, college 
campuses, and children's gardens. Together they form a web that 
preserves the beauty and complexity of plants and animals and 
humanity's interaction with them.
  There is a great thirst for the knowledge and experiences public 
gardens can provide. Gardening is the most popular hobby in the United 
States, and more than 70 million people visit public gardens annually. 
People from all backgrounds, age groups, and geographic regions 
regularly share in the beauty and serenity of natural spaces such as 
our public gardens.
  Here in Washington, DC, just across the street from the Capitol, is 
the U.S. Botanic Garden. Called ``America's Garden,'' it is a gateway 
for people to enjoy the beauty of plants while learning about the role 
plants play in commerce, culture, and kinship. The United States 
Botanic Garden is also responsible for helping to preserve and maintain 
the Capitol Grounds, which are enjoyed by over 3 million people who 
visit the Capitol every year.
  In my own home State of Illinois, our 32 public gardens include 
wonderful and varied institutions, such as the Morton Arboretum and the 
Quad City Botanical Center, places such as the Cantigny Foundation and 
the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.
  Among Illinois' valued public gardens is the Chicago Botanic Garden, 
which serves nearly 1 million visitors annually. Its classes are 
attended by 57,000 visitors, well over half of them school-age 
children. Millions of schoolchildren have been educated by public 
gardens about the wonders of nature and the important role of plants in 
our everyday lives, from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to 
the homes we live in. The Chicago Botanic Garden has hosted 22,000 
children on field trips in the past year, providing opportunities for 
them to interact with nature--a special opportunity for some who may 
never otherwise get to see a real meadow or visit a lake.
  Public gardens are not only committed to growing plants; they are 
committed to growing minds. As a result, public gardens everywhere are 
partnering extensively with local schools, colleges and universities, 
nonprofit organizations, and civic associations. Together they have 
worked on projects ranging from habitat restoration to landscape 
beautification, as well as on school-based education programs, public 
health education programs, and community and school gardens.
  The Chicago Botanic Garden is a wonderful example of the partnerships 
occurring between our public gardens and our colleges. Its Windy City 
Harvest program partners with City Colleges of Chicago to provide 
summer jobs and hands-on training for teenagers at sustainable 
agriculture sites within Chicago. Through this partnership, 
participants are trained in producing high-value organic produce, which 
is sold at retail outlets and is made available to local residents. 
Program participants not only gain important entrepreneurial skills, 
they learn where their food comes from and the value in nurturing plant 
life.
  We can rely on public gardens to deliver timely and critical 
resources for plant and water conservation, ecosystem management, green 
space preservation, and environmental stewardship. Visitors to public 
gardens have the opportunity to view regionally appropriate landscapes 
that preserve our precious natural resources--and give them ideas for 
creating their own.
  Public gardens also serve as repositories for rare and endangered 
plant species. The research conducted by public gardens on these 
endangered plant species can be crucial to their survival.
  Through their conservation and propagation efforts, many plants that 
would have been lost to us forever through extinction have been saved.
  Therefore, this May 7 we should celebrate our public gardens and the 
many contributions they make to our communities.

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