Martha Springer Botanical Garden, Botanical garden at Willamette University, Salem, Oregon.
Martha Springer Botanical Garden is a one-acre site on the Willamette University campus in Salem, Oregon, laid out in twelve small gardens along the Mill Race, the channel that crosses the campus after leaving the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill site to the east. The sections include a butterfly garden, an herb garden, an alpine rock garden, theme borders and ethnobotany gardens, with benches, a rock fountain and roses among the plantings.
Martha Springer Botanical Garden opened in 1988 on the Willamette University campus, dedicated to Professor Martha Springer, a biologist at the school. Elaine Joines served as the garden's first curator. The one-acre site was laid out along the Mill Race, the waterway that crosses the campus after leaving the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill site to the east.
The garden honours Martha Springer, a Willamette University biologist, and its first curator was Elaine Joines. Its ethnobotany gardens show how plants are used by people, and the site serves as an outdoor classroom for university students.
The garden is free to enter and easily accessible on foot as it sits on the university campus. Spring and summer are the best times to visit when the plants are at their peak.
The garden holds a notable collection of pink flowering Lagerstroemia that stands out against Oregon's native plants. This narrow space tucked behind the campus athletic facilities surprises many visitors with this bold color.
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