The United States Botanic Garden is hosting its holiday exhibit, Season’s Greetings: Dino-Mite! from November 27 to January 4. The free flora display will fill the conservatory and outdoor gardens with holiday lights and decor, poinsettias, and a model train show chugging through dinosaur displays.
This year’s theme includes plant-based displays of over 10 dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period, including the Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops. The display also includes descendants of animals and plants that lived among the dinosaurs, like magnolias, cycads, and ferns.
Alongside thousands of poinsettias and holiday-themed decorations, the conservatory will also showcase more than 20 local landmarks created by plant parts like pinecone scales, birch bark, and magnolia fruit stems. The White House, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Lincoln Memorial, and the U.S. Capitol are all featured.
Local business Rewild and nonprofit organization Friends of the U.S. Botanic Garden will host a gift shop in the Conservatory’s West Gallery with an assortment of botanical gifts for sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Maryland mobile bar truck Vintage Views will also offer coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks inside the outdoor garden.
The garden will also host special sensory-friendly program dates, intended for individuals with cognitive and sensory processing disabilities and their families to have museum access with early or late openings.
While the holiday display takes place every year, this is the first themed event since 2019’s America’s Gardens, which showcased 24 public gardens from around the United States made from plants and natural materials. Previous themes included National Parks and historic places in 2016, roadside attractions in 2017, and train stations in 2018.
The exhibit will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC. Select Tuesdays and Thursdays will have extended hours accompanied by live holiday music and food and drink vendors.
Feature image courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden
