The value of botanical gardens

In the minds of many of us, botanical gardens are institutions ideal for teaching botany, but many people just think of them as pretty places to walk through. Quite a number of years ago our campus, which has a distinguished collection of trees, was designated an official arboretum. And one day while walking across the campus with a VP, she commented on how nice the campus looked and then said she'd like to visit the arboretum some day. Yes, most of our admins simply think the campus is the landscaped space between buildings. The Phactor has argued for years that the arboretum was the biggest and most frequently used classroom the university has, and a VP didn't even know she was in it. You can read or obtain a nice article over at Art Plantae on the value of botanical gardens. It's worth reading; it's worth sending it to your dean.