Cleveland Botanical Garden

For seventy-five years, Cleveland Botanical Garden has been one of Northeast Ohio’s treasures. With beautiful facilities and innovative programming, the Garden reaches out to every segment of the community. It is a sanctuary for those who live and work in the city; a source of inspiration and information for gardeners; a living laboratory for students, teachers and researchers; a healing presence for those with special needs; and a catalyst for urban revitalization. In recent years, Cleveland Botanical Garden has extended its reach far beyond Northeast Ohio, becoming a national leader in urban horticulture, horticultural therapy and environmental education.

Cleveland Botanical Garden was founded in 1930 as the Garden Center of Greater Cleveland, the first such organization in an American city. Originally housed in a converted boat house on Wade Park Lagoon, the center served as a horticultural library, offering classes and workshops for gardeners and spearheading beautification projects in the community. In 1966, having outgrown its original home, the Garden Center moved to its present location in the heart of University Circle, the site of the old Cleveland Zoo.

In 1994, the organization’s Board of Trustees changed the name to Cleveland Botanical Garden to reflect a dramatically expanded mission and launched an ambitious capital campaign to develop a facility that would support the enhanced program agenda. The magnificently expanded and renovated building, designed by Graham Gund Architects of Cambridge, MA, opened to the public in July, 2003.

Mission Statement: We cultivate appreciation and knowledge of plants - their beauty, diversity, and support of the living world - so vibrant green communities in our region will flourish and sustain life.