Plants

• Plant Inventory
• Hotline
• Order of Bloom
• Featured Plants
  • Current Plant Highlights
  • Bonsai
  • Centenarians
  • Conifers
  • Lilacs
  • Rosaceous Plants
  • Shrub and Vine Garden
  • Tree Basics
• Collections Management
  • Availability of Research and Propagation Materials
  • Plant Labels, Mapping, & Records
  • Landscape and Collections Care
  • Planting Sequence
  • Propagation & Distribution
  • Herbaria
  • Collections Policy
  • Sino-American Botanical Expedition
• Conservation
  • Plant Conservation
  • Threatened Plant Highlights at the Arnold Arboretum
  • Institutional Collaborations for Plant Conservation
  • NAPCC

M. Victor and Frances Leventritt Garden

A collection of Shrubs and Vines

Since its dedication in 2002, the M. Victor and Frances Leventritt Garden has gained recognition as a unique collection and a highly popular visitor destination. One of the most significant additions to the Arboretum since its founding in 1872, the Leventritt Garden’s terraced beds feature a diverse array of sun-loving ornamental shrubs and vines. Plants selected for the Leventritt include interpreted specimens that exemplify Arboretum research and history, outstanding species and cultivars for southern New England Gardens, and wild-collected accessions from the core collections.

The four-acre site, located adjacent to the Dana Greenhouses and Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection, has a character distinct from the adjoining historic landscape. Designed by the prize-winning landscape architecture firm of Reed|Hilderbrand Associates, in collaboration with Maryann Thompson Architects, the Leventritt garden's form was inspired by agricultural landscapes; features include linear planting beds, terrace walls constructed of New England fieldstone, and modular, steel trellis systems for growing and training vines. An open-air pavilion provides a gathering place and additional surfaces for flowering vines. Our collection of dwarf conifers, revitalized and with new additions, has been sited near the bonsai house as a complementary planting to this exhibit. In 2006, construction of a new path through the Tilia (linden) collection created a gently winding passage for pedestrians between Meadow Road and the Leventritt Garden. A continually evolving collection, the garden was recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects with its 2007 Award of Excellence.

Construction of the garden has been made possible by the generous gift of Frances Leventritt and her son, Daniel, in memory of M. Victor Leventritt, Harvard '35.

Three articles focusing on this garden are available online in Arnoldia volume 62, number 2, 2003.