Lauritzen Gardens

As Omaha's premier botanical center and garden resource, Lauritzen Gardens encompasses more than 100 acres of horticultural displays on rolling bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. The garden provides a serene setting for the study, preservation, and propagation of some of the region's most precious natural resources and native flora. As the garden matures, it remains dedicated to the collection, cultivation, and display of a wide range of plants for the enjoyment and education of the community. It is a place where plants can be studied seriously by horticulture enthusiasts and a living laboratory for formal and informal education about the importance and beauty of the natural world. In 2021, Lauritzen Gardens celebrated its 20th anniversary as a fully operational botanical institution. In those two decades, our organization has grown to include more than 20 distinct outdoor gardens and the Marjorie K. Daugherty Conservatory. We adhere to a three-fold mission of botanical display, education and conservation: the foundational elements of any successful public garden. In 2019, Lauritzen Gardens set new records in annual attendance (277,101 visitors), memberships (14,193 households), and educational program attendance (39,152 participants). We are committed to serving a diverse audience with a growing emphasis on families with young children. For two decades, Lauritzen Gardens has collaborated with school districts throughout the Omaha metro area to offer field trips that provide valuable hands-on learning experiences for students and supplement teachers' classroom instruction. We are committed to providing free admission and subsidized bus transportation for local youth, particularly those from underserved communities. The garden has worked closely with the OPS Department of Curriculum and Learning to align our programs with science curriculum standards at every grade level from K-12. Lauritzen Gardens is a participating institution in the Center for Plant Conservation, a coalition of the nation's leading botanical institutions working to prevent the extinction of America's endangered plants. Our conservation work is focused on the Great Plains region where more than 100 plants are in danger of becoming extinct in their native habitat.