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Arnoldia
Illustration of common witch-hazel by Charles Faxon

Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden plants

Leventritt Shrub and Vine Garden, Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection, and Dana Greenhouses (left to right)
Aerial photograph of Leventritt Shrub and Vine Garden, Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection, and Dana Greenhouses

Background

Fun Facts

  • 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 and is distinct from the adjoining historic landscape.

  • Garden 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.

  • A continually evolving collection, the garden was recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects with its 2007 Award of Excellence.

About

This three acre (one hectare) garden showcases 398 taxa (kinds), 130 genera, and 55 families. Since its dedication in 2002, the M. Victor and Frances Leventritt Garden has become a popular destination for visitors and gained recognition as a unique plant collection and horticultural display. Plants selected for the Leventritt Garden include 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 Arboretum’s collection of dwarf conifers, revitalized and including new additions, has been sited overlooking the garden 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. Construction of the garden has been made possible through the generosity of Frances Leventritt and her son, Daniel, in memory of M. Victor Leventritt, Harvard College Class of 1935.

Resources

 

Leventritt Garden in autumn.
Leventritt Garden in autumn
Leventritt Garden great lawn as viewed from beyond the great wall.
Leventritt Garden great lawn as viewed from beyond the great wall.
Rhododendron mucronulatum 'Cornell Pink' 354-2003*B with Abeiliophyllum and Forsythia in the background.
Rhododendron mucronulatum 'Cornell Pink' 354-2003*B with Abeiliophyllum and Forsythia in the background

Plants in this Collection

Plant ID Accession Date Received As Origin Source

Featured Walk

Explorers Garden Tour

This quarter-mile tour through the Explorers Garden features stories from the Arboretum’s century and a half of collecting plants around the world. If you’re at the Arboretum, click here to take a version of this tour with Expeditions, our mobile web app.

Take this walk
Dove tree (Davidia involucrata)