The Native Plant Center created and manages three teaching gardens on more than two acres on the Westchester Community College campus in Valhalla, NY. These demonstration areas—showcasing more than 300 species of native plants–educate and inspire people to incorporate native plants in their own landscapes. The Center also manages the Community Garden on campus.

The gardens are open to the public free of charge.

• The Lady Bird Johnson Demonstration Garden features a native meadow, a bird garden with plants beneficial to birds, and an 11,000-square-foot buffer site between the meadow and a 300-car parking lot installed in 2020.
• The New American Cottage Garden illustrates the use of native plants in a formal setting and was restored in 2018.
• The Rain Garden, alongside the Cottage Garden and created in 2008, collects stormwater runoff from the roof and downspouts of the Stone Cottage. The water flows along a gravel bed and seeps into the ground rather than rushing into storm drains.
• The Community Garden, a 2,400-square foot area with raised beds built in 2010, serves as a gateway to gardening and learning about nature for students of all ages.

PLANTS IN OUR GARDENS

Click here for a downloadable PDF listing the native plant species and where they are located.

NATURE

• Our gardens are vital to bees, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife. See the hundreds of nature observations captured by visitors and students through the iNaturalist app.
• In 2024 Shonari Winter, a plant science major at SUNY Cobleskill, as part of his internship at The Native Plant Center, studied insect and plant interactions in the Center’s gardens. He presented his observations and research in this presentation.
• Take a video tour with Garden Manager and Educator Patty Butter.  
• Book a tour of the gardens with a Native Plant Center educator.
• Learn about volunteer opportunities and garden internships.