Plants, nature, and the outdoors have always reminded me of home.

As a kid, I took every chance I could to explore the mountains that surrounded my neighborhood. When it got warm out, I would forage for wild plants to cook or steep into tea. Inside, I grew lucky bamboo, peace lilies, air plants, succulents, spider plants, crown-of-thorns, saga palms, silver inch plants, and asparagus ferns. Outside, my biggest prized possession was a few lavender plants I managed to grow from seed.

All this is to say, I have always loved plants and the outdoors. So, coming into college, I made it a priority to explore the green scene in Boston. Over the course of my first year, I got the chance to visit several plant shops, botanical gardens, and parks. In this blog, I’m going to share with you the must-visit green spaces and why you should visit them!

The Arnold Arboretum

Without a doubt, the Arnold Arboretum is one of the most beautiful green spaces in the Cambridge/Boston area. The Arboretum is Harvard’s tree conservatory and houses over 1,600 species of trees from around the world. The Arboretum is a wonderful place to stroll with its light hills, gorgeous views, and incredible diversity of plants. The Arboretum houses a bonsai collection, hills with maples and oaks, and some ancient trees—some of which have survived car accidents and lightning strikes! It also conserves some remaining specimens of Franklinia alatamaha, which is extinct in the wild!

During my first semester at Harvard, I took a freshman seminar at the Arnold Arboretum called “Tree.” It was one of my best first-year experiences, and it introduced me to all that the Arboretum has to offer. If you want to read about my experience taking "Tree," check out my other blog!

While picnics are unfortunately not allowed, the Arboretum is the place to visit if you love plants and want to learn about them!

Mount Auburn Cemetery

The Mount Auburn Cemetery is not only a peaceful burial ground but also a botanical garden! If winding paths lavished with flowers, trees, and stepping stones are your thing, you'll love walking through the Mount Auburn Cemetery.

This past semester, I visited the cemetery with my friends to watch birds and frogs, paint, take pictures, and stroll beside the ponds. In “Tree,” I also got to observe a dawn redwood tree in the Mount Auburn Cemetery for an entire semester. Abra, my dawn redwood tree, grew with the seasons, and visiting Abra weekend during my first semester provided me a much-needed break from my work.

A must-visit location within the Mount Auburn Cemetery is the Washington Tower, which was built in 1854 in honor of George Washington. From the top, almost all of Cambridge can be seen!

Cambridge Commons

One of the closest green spaces around Harvard Yard, the Cambridge Commons contains cool monuments and captures moments in the history of Harvard, the United States, and the world. My friends and I have trampled across Cambridge Commons many times to get to the Radcliffe Quadrangle, play frisbee, or go on a walk. Cambridge Commons has an open field for playing other games like volleyball, badminton, and soccer, too!

My favorite monument is the Irish Famine Monument, inscribed with the words “Never again should a people starve in a world of plenty.”

Boston Common and Public Garden

If you're in Bosotn, you have to visit the Boston Commons and the connected Boston Public Garden. Trees of all kinds blanket the Boston Commons, and during the summer, the Commons is vibrant with people. Close to Newbury Street and the Boston Public Library, the Boston Commons is an easy stop if you want to relax, bike, or walk around. It’s also very common to see performances and acts in the Commons!

Within the Commons and the Boston Public Garden, the Swan Pond and Frog Pond are both fun places to visit. In the winter, the Frog Pond freezes over and is open for ice-skating!

Brattle Square Florist

If you’re a plant-lover like me, you might find yourself visiting Brattle Square Florist often.

Brattle Square Florist has a left a legacy and continues to sell affordable indoor plants and flowers, with great variety and quality. From one-dollar succulents and pothos curtains to hanging baskets of ferns and bouquets of roses, you’ll most likely find what you need and much more at the Brattle Square Florist.

Harvard Museum of Natural History

The Harvard Museum of Natural History is open to the public and free to Harvard students! If you are interested in plants, the incredible Glass Flowers collection within the Harvard Natural History Museum. Commissioned by Leonard and Rudolf Blaschka, glass artists from Germany, the plant models look almost as realistic as the plants they represent. They're incredible!

The detail and accuracy of the plant models are striking, and the models themselves are available for research. Quite frankly, I would spend a whole day exploring this collection if I could. The last time I went, I had to leave because the museum closed.

Concluding notes

Some of my best experiences at Harvard have been visiting and sharing the green spaces around Harvard with my friends. I’ve gotten to learn about so many different plants and explore parts of Boston I did not know existed.

On an ending note, if you ever get the chance to visit the Arnold Arboretum or Mount Auburn Cemetery in the fall, be sure to look out for the katsura tree. The leaves of katsura trees turn golden and smell like burnt brown sugar in the fall—one of the most pleasant surprises that await those in the botanical gardens in Cambridge and Boston.

Happy exploring!