history
sense of the
car ver garden
making
George Washington Carver had keen observation skills
which he developed as a boy, wandering through the woods
surrounding the Carver farm in southwest Missouri. As you
walk through the Carver Garden, tune in to nature and
record some of your observations below.
CARVER GARDEN
George Washington Carver was born into slavery in 1865,
near Diamond, Missouri, a few miles southeast of Joplin.
His interest in nature and plants developed early. By the age
of 12, he was known in the local farming community as “the
plant doctor.” He became the first African-American to study
at Iowa State Agricultural College, where he received
bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He would go on to head the
department of agriculture at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama,
where he revolutionized farming in the South by introducing
plant diversity, crop rotation, natural fertilizers, and
conservation methods.
By the end of his life, Carver was an internationally
renowned figure, one of America’s greatest scientists,
teachers, humanitarians, and advocates for productive,
sustainable agriculture.
DONOR OPPORTUNITIES
look at the statue of George Washington Carver. What
kind of coat is Carver wearing? What is Carver holding in
his hands? What is on his lapel?
listen to the sounds around you. What sounds do you
E n t e r t h e w o r ld o f
George Wa sh i n g t on C ar v er
You can make a difference in the Garden. Special naming
opportunities exist for honoring or memorializing your
loved ones. For information, contact the Development
Office at (314) 577-5120.
hear? Can you hear nature “talking” to you?
smell Find a fragrant plant in the Carver Garden.
What does it smell like to you?
touch There are many textures in the Carver Garden.
How many different textures can you feel? What do they
feel like? (Hint: hard, soft, waxy, coarse, sticky)
taste Can you imagine the taste of a peanut butter
sandwich? sweet potato chips?
4344 Shaw Boulevard • Saint Louis, Missouri 63110
(314) 577-9400 • 1-800-642-8842 • www.mobot.org
how many can you find?
__________ quotes
__________ flowers in the garden
__________ benches
__________ nature sounds
__________ flowers on the Carver statue
©2008 Missouri Botanical Garden
Photography by Jack Jennings, Brian Mueller,
Leslie Wallace, Erin Whitson, Kevin Wolf.
Map by Tom Willcockson, www.mapcraft.com.
Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
Paper manufactured using 100% wind power.
new inside ->
01/08
5
C A RV E R G A R D E N
4
to the
Japanese
Garden
Welcome to the 11/2 acre Carver Garden, designed for
peaceful contemplation and learning. Landscaped with fragrant
viburnums, hydrangeas, and sweet potato vines, this garden
provides a secluded, intimate feeling. Benches, inspirational
inscriptions, and a small amphitheater surrounding the
2
3
1
6
Kemper Center
for Home Gardening
reflecting pool provide a quiet place to relax.
1 . C A R V E R ’ S W I S D O M ( S O U T H PAT H E N T R A N C E )
4. THE PLANT DOCTOR (CARVER GARDEN AREAS)
6 . T H E C A R V E R L E G A C Y: T O B E O F T H E
Entering the garden from the south, visitors are able to
proceed down a path lined with inspirational inscriptions
from Carver’s writings, speeches and correspondence.
As a child, Carver would carefully transplant and cultivate
native plants he found in the woods and fields surrounding the
Carver farm. His keen observation skills led him to understand
the needs of each plant and the ability to nurse sickly plants
back to health. This knowledge was widely appreciated and
earned him the title of “plant doctor.”
G R E AT E S T G O O D ( V E G E TA B L E P L O T )
“Alone with the things I loved most, I gathered specimens,
and studied the lessons of nature.”
2. BLAZING THE TRAIL (REFLECTING POOL)
Emerge from the pathway to the central reflecting pool.
Reverence for nature was a key ingredient of George
Washington Carver’s personal philosophy.
“Day after day...in the woods alone in order to collect my
floral beauties and put them in my little garden I had
hidden in brush...."
5. SPIRITUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY (AMPHITHEATER)
“Never a day passes but that I do myself the honor to
commune with some of nature’s varied forms.”
3 . S C I E N T I S T A N D S Y M B O L ( S TAT U E )
The focal point of the garden is a life-size bronze statue of
Carver by acclaimed African-American sculptor, Tina Allen.
The six-foot statue shows a mature Carver of about 65 years,
wearing a simple lab-coat with a small flower pinned to his
lapel. Holding an amaryllis in his left hand, his wise gentle
expression seems to look beyond this favorite flower as he
holds tightly to a worn but well-read Bible.
“It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of
automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in
the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply
service that measures success.”
George Washington Carver was both teacher of the common
man, regardless of skin color, and preacher of the value of
resource conservation. Invited to speak before the U.S. House
Ways and Means Committee in 1921 and given only 10 minutes,
Carver captivated Capitol Hill with his presentation on the
peanut. Demonstrating some of the more than 300 products
that he developed from the lowly groundnut, Carver’s allotted
time came and went as he spoke for well over an hour. As
you sit in the amphitheater, reflect on the philosophy of this
creative chemist.
“Throw nothing away, everything can be used again.
Nature produces no waste.”
At Tuskegee Institute, Carver developed his crop rotation
method which revolutionized productivity and freed the
South from its dependency on cotton. Hailed as the “savior
of southern agriculture,“ his research encompassed several
southern crops—cowpeas, sweet potatoes, soybeans,
and most notably, peanuts. During the growing season,
specimens of these plants and others significant to Carver’s
legacy may be viewed in the Kemper Center for Home
Gardening’s display gardens.
“The highest attainments in agriculture can be reached only
when we clearly understand the mutual relationship between
the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms, and how utterly
impossible it is for one to exist in a highly organized state
without the other.”