Welcome to the Virtual Garden

The plants described on this site can be found in the six gardens of Powdermill Nature Reserve and are mostly native to our area (Zone 5). The bloom dates are approximate and vary from year to year. Plants are organized alphabetically by season and garden type, or can be explored on our virtual timeline.

About Powdermill Nature Reserve

Powdermill Nature Reserve, the biological research center of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, has been dedicated to research, education, and conservation for over 50 years. It serves as a site for scientists, students, and families who are interested in the natural world to come and explore. A wide variety of public education programs serve children and adults throughout the year. Researchers from around the world visit Powdermill to conduct diverse scientific studies in various fields such as botany, entomology, herpetology, and ornithology.

About the Virtual Garden Project

The Virtual Garden Timeline project is part of a collaboration between The University of Central Florida’s The Harrington Lab and Carnegie Museum of Natural History to develop cyberinfrastructure for open access educational publications covering STEM educational material with modern digital technology, including augmented and virtual reality. This site was composed and vetted by Dr. Maria Harrington, Dr. John Wenzel, Martha Oliver, Bonnie Isaac, and Alex Guffey, and 3D models created by Zachary Bledsoe and Chis Jones.