Massachusetts

The Smith College Botanic Garden | A Glimpse of Green in the Dead of Winter

In the dead of winter, the Smith College Botanic Garden in Northampton, MA offers a welcome escape with a warmer, more colorful climate.

By Annie Graves|Feb 01 2017| Print icon

A large, ornate greenhouse with white framework and multiple glass panels stands in a snowy landscape with residential houses in the background.

Credit: Annie Graves
If you don’t know about the Smith College Botanic Garden in Northampton, Massachusetts, now is the time to brush up. Like desert wanderers thirsting for water, we’re parched for a glimpse of green by the time February rolls around.
A stone statue of a person surrounded by various potted plants, including green leaves, is displayed in a greenhouse with red columns.

Be here. Now.

Credit: Annie Graves
Be here. Now.
Credit: Annie Graves Color, too.
Yellow and pink orchids bloom among green foliage inside a greenhouse.

A burst of sun!

Credit: Annie Graves
A burst of sun!
Credit: Annie Graves Somewhere in the outside world people are lolling around on beaches sheltered by palm trees, but here we’re still sharpening shovels and sifting salt, and those getaway ads in the travel section of the NY Times might as well be science fiction. There are specks of hope, though.
Indoor plants near a window with a view of an outdoor garden and pathway on a rainy day.

A hint of things to come.

Credit: Annie Graves
A hint of things to come.
Credit: Annie Graves The Boston Flower Show—that moist explosion of smell, color, and warmth that heaves out of the Seaport World Trade Center.
A round stone fountain with a statue in the center, surrounded by greenery and plants. Water is flowing from the statue into the basin.

Last year’s show…ah.

Credit: Annie Graves
Last year’s show…ah.
Credit: Annie Graves And bare ground has been spotted by the semi-delusional. Meanwhile, it’s possible to pre-emptively create your own Mini-Flower-Show experience.
Yellow lemon hanging from a tree branch inside a greenhouse with various green plants and people in the background.

It’s just like Marbella…

Credit: Annie Graves
It’s just like Marbella…
Credit: Annie Graves
It’s just a doorknob away.
A glass greenhouse filled with various green plants in pots, including ferns and orchids, seen through a partially open door.

Walk this way…

Credit: Annie Graves
Walk this way…
Credit: Annie Graves
At the warm heart of the Smith College campus, in Northampton, MA, the Lyman Plant House rises like a Victorian wedding cake from the crusty ice and snow.
A large glass greenhouse with arched roofs sits in a snowy landscape, surrounded by trees and residential buildings in the background.

Rising from the snow.

Credit: Annie Graves
Rising from the snow.
Credit: Annie Graves
This lacy confection soared into existence in 1895, on the grounds of the then-20-year-old college property. Here’s what’s hidden inside the Smith College Botanic Garden:
A garden scene featuring a tree with a ripe yellow fruit and plants with large, pink and green-striped leaves.

Glorious colors.

Credit: Annie Graves
Glorious colors.
Credit: Annie Graves
Stepping through the doorway, moist air slaps at us, in the best possible way, like those warm towelettes that Air France used to hand out, back in the day.
A narrow path with loose gravel winds through dense, lush green foliage in a tropical garden or conservatory.

This way to the jungle.

Credit: Annie Graves
This way to the jungle.
Credit: Annie Graves
There’s lots of Georgia O’Keefe inspiration, too.
Close-up of a Paphiopedilum orchid with green and pink petals and a white accent, displayed in a greenhouse setting.

Inspiration.

Credit: Annie Graves
Inspiration.
Credit: Annie Graves
A citrus grove,

Citrus trees.

Credit: Annie Graves
Citrus trees.
Credit: Annie Graves
paths that don’t need clearing,

Future garden inspiration.

Credit: Annie Graves
Future garden inspiration.
Credit: Annie Graves
and a chance to sharpen your plant ID skills. Months of being draped over a wood stove have drained some of us of all excess moisture. As my hair boinks back to life, increasing in volume with each tropical detour, I take the next dramatic step. Removal of the down coat. Look, cacao beans!

It all starts here.

Credit: Annie Graves
It all starts here.
Credit: Annie Graves
A Fern Palm from Taiwan flails wispy frond arms that rise from an Aliens body.

A Little Shop of Horrors moment.

Credit: Annie Graves
A Little Shop of Horrors moment.
Credit: Annie Graves
There’s even a tiny rice paddy,

In the rice fields.

Credit: Annie Graves
In the rice fields.
Credit: Annie Graves
and a soaring space where you can bring a book, park yourself on a bench, and read.

The bigger picture.

Credit: Annie Graves
The bigger picture.
Credit: Annie Graves
We’ve come in search of green this day, and we find it, springing up, brand new. As moisture trickles down windows and a slick of green fur coats the terra cotta pots, the flowers reach towards the light.

In the tropics.

Credit: Annie Graves
In the tropics.
Credit: Annie Graves
Ropy vines, swirly ferns. We are a pith helmet and a machete away from swinging on vines, but that’s a different story for another day. Right now we’re just soaking up a hint of things to come.

Inside out.

Credit: Annie Graves
Inside out.
Credit: Annie Graves
For the moment, it’s so very easy to be green. Have you ever visited the Smith College Botanic Garden? Smith College Botanic Garden. 16 College Lane, Northampton, MA. 413-585-2740; smith.edu/garden This post was first published in 2014 and has been updated. 

Annie Graves

A New Hampshire native, Annie has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years, while also composing music and writing young adult novels.

More by Annie Graves

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  1. I could almost inhale the warm, moist, enlivening mist from my cold, dry winter cubicle!! This is an awesome reminder of what’s to come (soon, please!)…it’s like we’re just about there, isn’t it?

    Thank you for bringing our beloved spring that much closer!! :-}

    Reply

  4. Not as peaceful but a couple towns over is Magic Wings, also a down coat shedder, filled with butterflies, tropical plants and tropical warmth.

    Reply

  6. During March there is a wonderful bulb show at the Botanic Garden. It is easy access and not too large, for those of us who have trouble walking. The beds are raised, so sniffing the invigorating scents is inviting. (Get details on the web site.) Continue through the greenhouses, if you wish. Parking is limited, but we’ve never had a problem. Enjoy!!

    Reply

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