Since its founding, UDBG has collected plants to support the undergraduate and graduate curriculum in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The diversity of plants and variety of garden styles offer beauty, respite, and horticultural interest through all seasons. Visitors are invited to enjoy a number of unique gardens within UDBG’s 15 acres of developed landscapes.
Emily Clark Garden
Located between Townsend Hall and College Ave, this garden displays a diverse collection of conifers, broadleaf evergreens, and deciduous flowering trees and shrubs that provide year-round interest. Established in 1996 through a generous donation by Emily C. Diffenback, this garden holds many of the UDBG’s most historically significant plantings.
Charles Dunham Garden
Celebrating Dr. Charles W. Dunham’s legacy as an educator and co-founder of UDBG, this garden is shaded by canopy trees and composed of an understory that includes flowering shrubs and herbaceous ground covers with an Asiatic theme. Located near the south entrance to Townsend Hall.
Fischer Greenhouse Garden
Planted beds feature small trees, flowering shrubs, and herbaceous plants that grace the greenhouse’s entryway. The collections in this area primarily focus on hydrangeas and mature hollies.
Herbaceous Garden
This garden demonstrates the seasonal interest and aesthetic nature of herbaceous plants, creating inviting spaces for relaxation and study. This garden was historically used to help students learn herbaceous perennials and features curvilinear beds, a pavilion, brick paths, and connects to the Lepidoptera Trail.
Trial Garden
A vibrant display of award-winning annuals and tropical plants, this garden provides inspirations for homeowners while highlighting top-performing, low-maintenance plants. Our trials are evaluated biweekly by UDBG staff.
Lepidoptera Trail
A garden of trees, shrubs and perennials primarily indigenous to the Eastern United States. The adjacent interpretive trail supports butterflies, moths, and skippers (collectively known as the Order Lepidoptera) during both their caterpillar and adult stages of life. Ideal for observing not only butterflies and moths, but birds as well.
South Greenhouse Garden
A four-season garden surrounded by a low brick wall, deciduous hollies and oakleaf hydrangeas create the illusion of a secluded courtyard and provide inspiration for small space gardens.
Townsend East Lawn and Garden
The UD Botanic Gardens and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources are collaborating to transform a portion of the Townsend Hall parking lot into the Townsend East Lawn and Garden. This addition creates an intentional connection between the existing areas of UDBG’s landscape while fostering a welcoming entry point that improves wayfinding, safety, and accessibility to campus amenities and collections.
Townsend Hall Courtyards
Using the heat passively generated from the surrounding building, the courtyards feature a unique selection of plants that are not normally able to grow in Delaware’s climate.
Wetlands
A unique balance between ecology and aesthetics, the wetlands improve water quality, enhance habitat, and are used for research and education.
Worrilow Hall Gardens
An extensive collection of viburnums, witch hazels, winter hazels, hornbeams, and oaks located outside of Worrilow Hall. The rolling topography encloses the garden and provides unique opportunities for display.