If you go outside, find a spot of sunshine to stand in, and close your eyes real tight, maybe, just maybe, you can smell the first little whiff of springtime in the air and get that tingling in your fingers to get dirt under your nails. Spring fever becomes an epidemic around this time of year, but we still have a way to go before the warm weather arrives in the Treasure Valley. At the Idaho Botanical Garden, however, spring fever is a way of life, and the itch to get outside and dig is a year-round passion.

        The Idaho Botanical Garden is a living museum, dedicated to the advancement and appreciation of gardening, horticulture, and conservation. It provides a beautiful, peaceful setting for people of all ages to learn about and experience our natural environment, native plants, and even our local history. The Garden is especially welcoming to kids—school programs, botany camps, craft workshops, and tours are designed to nurture children’s fascination with biology and the natural world.

        The Garden, situated on 33 acres at the base of the Boise Foothills, is actually many gardens in one. Approximately 15 of the 33 acres are under cultivation, with that space divided into distinct and varied areas. There’s the Western Waterwise Garden, which demonstrates how western native plants and their cultivars can be attractively incorporated into the home landscape; the Children’s Garden, which, when completed, will feature treehouses and a grotto for interactive play; and the Herb Garden, featuring plants used for centuries in medicines, cosmetics, decoration, and cooking. In May 2006, the Lewis & Clark Native Plant Garden opened to commemorate the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1804–1806). This garden addresses the significance of the expedition’s journey, how Native Americans contributed to the expedition’s success, the great diversity of Idaho plant life, and how native plants may be used in today’s urban landscapes. And there are many other gardens to explore.

        The Idaho Botanical Garden is a private, nonprofit organization that receives no state or federal funding, so it is completely dependent on Garden memberships, program fees, and tax-deductible contributions from citizens, corporations, and foundations. While monetary donations are always appreciated, you can also help them out with other gifts. Here’s their wishlist:

• Office supplies (paper, Sharpies, paper clips, etc.— money saved on office supplies means more money in the coffers for plants and gardening supplies)
• Christmas lights (workable or not—the Garden can recycle them for cash)
• Art and craft supplies (tissue paper, baskets, large totes, gift certificates to art and craft supply stores)
• Gardening tools and plastic pots for volunteers working in the Garden

        To learn more about the Idaho Botanical Garden, visit www.idahobotanicalgarden.org or call 343-8649 for more information about donating items on the wishlist.

Donna Bankhead is a contributing writer from Boise.