About the Garden

The mission of the Mizzou Botanic Garden is to support the University of Missouri in the areas of education, research, extension, and economic development. To this end, the Garden is to serve as a public resource providing educational opportunities through the collections, display, interpretation and conservation of plants suited to central Missouri in a manner which inspires, educates and delights visitors of all ages.

For those of you who have not been to campus lately or are first time visitors, our garden is the MU campus. We have turned our environment into an exceptional and beautiful learning opportunity for our students, faculty, staff and visitors.

We hope you will visit often as the garden changes with each season and grows with each passing year.

News & Information

Another Year, Another Successful Jacquelyn K. Jones Lecture

Mizzou Botanic Garden’s (MUBG) 2023 Jacquelyn K. Jones Lecture, featured Joe Lamp’l, the star of PBS’s “Growing a Greener World” and the force behind the joe gardener® online gardening courses, videos, podcasts, a blog and articles. In addition to the lecture, evengt co-sponsor Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture (CCUA) hosted him for a seed-starting workshop. He also visited MU’s Children’s Garden and spoke with students about careers in horticulture at MU’s Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center


Payne Plaza Dedication

MUBG teamed up with the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources to honor Vice Chancellor and Dean Emeritus of the College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources (CAFNR) Tom Payne, and his wife Alice by dedicating the gardens at the south and west corners of MU’s Agriculture Building as the Tom and Alice Payne Plaza


Learning the Landscape

Mizzou Botanic Garden is MU Plant Science Instructor Tim Maloney’s classroom and he couldn’t be happier about it. Maloney teaches the full suite of MU’s green industry class offerings and takes full advantage of MUBG as a teaching tool.   “Campus is our classroom,” he said. “The reality is that it’s a botanic garden. It’s meant to teach.”


Internationally recognized Missouri peony hybridizer shares outstanding introductions

Don Hollingsworth, a native Missourian, an MU alumnus and an internationally recognized peony grower and hybridizer has generously shared some of his notable cultivars with Mizzou Botanic Garden.


Mizzou Botanic Garden News You Can Use: Arboriculture

What do you do when you have questions about treating a tree in your landscape for what you suspect might be insect or pathogen damage? Or maybe you wonder if a tree growing in your yard that has been damaged or that is no longer flourishing and seems to be in decline might need to be removed? Ultimately, you should engage the services of a certified arborist.


Pat and Sandy Hiatte make transformative MUBG gift commitment

A $5 million estate gift from MU Alumni Pat and Sandy Hiatte of New Bloomfield, Mo., will be split equally by Mizzou Botanic Garden (MUBG) and the School of Journalism. This generous gift is the largest ever committed to MUBG in the campus garden’s 22 years of existence.


What a difference a genus can make: Oaks

Increasingly, scientists and others are recognizing the important ecological, economic and cultural roles oak trees play in this country. MUBG takes a brief look at the genus and the roles oaks – specifically white oaks (Quercus alba) play in the lives of Missourians.


Join Friends of the Mizzou Botanic Garden and in addition to other benefits, you can visit 345+ gardens throughout North America for free. Memberships run from July 1 to June 30.