Featured

In Bloom Now
Celebrate spring in the arboretum

Explore a variety of flowering trees including flowering cherries, magnolias, crabapples, redbuds, and dogwoods.

man in blue shirt holding a white flower next to a bush of blue flowers
News
Ari Novy named executive director of Cornell Botanic Gardens

Biologist, science educator, will lead the botanic gardens starting March 1st, 2026

Cultural Connection
Winter Solstice Heralds the Return of Light

The winter solstice has a great deal of meaning to human cultures because it is literally about life and death. The cycle of the seasons with life, death, and rebirth is crucial to the survival of all...

Upcoming Events

Event
April 23, 2026: A Botanist’s Dilemma: The Defiant Nature of the Banana Plant at Cornell Botanic Gardens

In, A Botanist’s Dilemma: The Defiant Nature of the Banana Plant, artist Faye Pamintuan uses the lens of plant movement, adaptation, and the deep relationship between humans...

Event
April 23, 2026: Keeping Common Birds Common: Birds and Habitat at Cornell Botanic Gardens and Beyond at Mann Library

Organized by Cornell University Library in collaboration with Cornell Botanic Gardens, Keeping Common Birds Common features unforgettable portraits of birds by wildlife...

Event
April 24, 2026: Guided Mindfulness Meditation with the Let's Meditate Initiative at Cornell Botanic Gardens at Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center

All are welcome to join this free, guided meditation session, led by Travis Winter, LCSW, in partnership with Cornell Botanic Gardens and the Nature Rx Initative. This...

Connecting plants and peoples for a world of diversity, beauty, and hope.

Land Acknowledgement

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation), members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

a person kneeling in a garden
Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts

Cornell Botanic Gardens embraces and actively works to increase diversity among all the communities with which we engage.

Two students planting a garden
News
Medicinal garden at Onondaga Nation School grows opportunity

Students in the Learning by Leading program engaged extensively with the Onondaga Nation School on native plants and design ideas.

Our Gardens and Natural Areas

We are responsible for the natural beauty of the Cornell University campus including cultivated gardens, an arboretum, and natural areas. Together these comprise one-third of campus, and with off-campus natural areas, a total of 3,600 acres.

Cascadilla and Fall Creek gorges in summer.
Pink peony

What to see in spring

Flowering trees and shrubs and primrose blooms cover the landscape. By late spring our Rhododendron collection shines along with the opening of the gorges.