EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Michigan State University’s Beal Botanical Garden is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The garden features more than 2,000 plants, research opportunities and events to celebrate the occasion.
Maeve Bassett, Education Director with MSU’s Beal Botanical Garden said the garden is a resource for the university and the entire world. “It’s part of one of the oldest experiments in the entire world but more so than that, it’s an oasis on campus,” Bassett said.
Officials said the Botanical Garden has a lot of education opportunities already – like the interactive map of the garden and campus arboretum, but they’re working on new programs as well, like one called “Nurture Your Roots,” which invites visitors to connect mind, body and nature.
“Everybody’s excited to get to the garden now that they’ve realized it’s here as a resource and that we’re here to support students and professors, so the excitement of the garden has grown and the opportunities, our partnerships – were now working a lot more closely with the Wharton, the broad museum, the msu museum,” Bassett said.
According to Bassett, this year is about making sure indigenous populations are better represented. Also, the gardens are ready to adapt to current climate changes.
Bassett also said one of the biggest goals is to get rid of invasive species- which, and simply looking to the next 150 years to make sure that the garden is around and relevant. “At the moment we’re planning for the next 150 years; that’s our goal. We have a long legacy, but we want to really make sure that we are meeting the needs of our students, and our communities so we’re looking at expanding into more topics like well-being, mental health, and as I said before evaluating our collections to make sure that the plants that we have are meeting current and community needs,” Bassett said.
There’s still time to enjoy the Beal Botanical Garden before it gets too cold — with the last musical event scheduled there for the season set for this Sunday
Also, an outdoor movie series every Thursday for the rest of September.
