The Gate: The U.S. Botanic Garden

It’s officially spring. While we wait for the cherry blossoms to peak, a trip to the U.S. Botanic Garden — a “living plant museum” — might help bend our minds toward the warmth and renewal of the season. Established by Congress in 1820, it is one of the oldest botanic gardens in North America. Its mission is to demonstrate “the aesthetic, cultural, economic, therapeutic and ecological importance of plants,” but an afternoon stroll through also just ma...