Geology Garden

The Geology Garden features rock types spanning 500 million years, from the Paleozoic through the Pleistocene eras. Each stone represents important transitions in the span of geologic time, while the plants growing here symbolize the evolutionary emergence of plant species. Ferns dominated the botanical world from the Devonian period, about 360m years ago, to the Cretaceous period, about 120m years ago. Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), with soft needles and red exfoliating bark, flank the garden’s central path. This tree is a member of an ancient taxon, the Sequoioideae, which dominated northern latitudes during the Cretaceous period. Finally, the maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba), planted in a small grove at the southern end of the garden, represents the oldest living tree on the planet, evolving some 230 million years ago.

Plants in this garden include:

Horsetail (Equisetum hymale)

Deer fern (Blechum spicant)

Holly fern (Cyrtomium falcatum)

Japanese tassel fern (Polystichum polyblepharum)

Moss fern (Seliganella pallescens)

Great rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum)

Sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)

Maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba)