Pacific Connections Gardens at Washington Park Arboretum

Pacific Connections Gardens, located within Washington Park Arboretum, is a globally minded garden that takes an unusual educational approach: instead of organizing by plant type, it organizes by geography — five distinct Pacific Rim ecosystems planted side by side so visitors experience the plant communities of Chile, Australia, China, Korea, and New Zealand in a single walk.

For families, this creates a natural scavenger hunt structure. Kids move from the New Zealand section (tree ferns, flax, Pohutukawa) to the Chilean section (Chilean wine palm, monkey puzzle trees) to the Chinese section (ginkgo, Asian ornamentals) and notice the differences in plant form, color, and character. Educational signage at each section explains the regional climate and how plants have adapted to it.

The garden opened in the 2000s and the plantings have now matured enough to give a genuine sense of place in each section. The Chilean and Australian sections in particular have distinctive, otherworldly plant forms — the monkey puzzle tree alone generates more kid questions than most anything else in the Arboretum.

Practically, this is part of the free Washington Park Arboretum and shares its parking and visitor center resources. It's best combined with a broader Arboretum walk — follow the Pacific Connections loop and then connect to the Foster Island boardwalk trail for a full 2-3 hour outing. Open 9 AM-5 PM daily.