McMillan Greenhouse

Hosting six themed collections, eight greenhouse rooms, terraces, surrounding beds, and a courtyard, the McMillan Greenhouse will show you scenes from across the globe and time. The Dinosaur Garden hosts living fossils and offers a view into prehistoric vegetation. The Carnivorous and Bog collection features native plants that prey on insects. Of those carnivorous plants, this collection includes Sarracenia hybrids that were specially bred by Dr. Mellichamp for unique colors, shapes, and patterns.

The McMillan Greenhouse also holds collections of Desert Succulents, Economic Plants, Orchids, and Tropical Plants. The Tropical Plants collection includes the Titan Arum (whose size, shape, and smell captures visitors), and many other exotic plants (both large and small).

Susie Harwood Garden

This outdoor garden is designed to inspire your own gardening. The Susie Harwood Garden showcases a wide variety of plants that grow in the Carolina Piedmont and different approaches to landscaping. This garden hosts winter-blooming plants. This is a beautiful wintertime destination that stays lively all yearlong. Stroll or sit awhile in the Asian Garden at any time of year to find tranquility and inspiration for your own garden.

The newest addition to the gardens, The Mellichamp Terrace, features a meadow and is accompanied with woodwork and hardscaping. Visit this meadow in bloom to experience this new addition at its pique.

Van Landingham Glen

This is the first installment of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, and a true woodland garden. Van Landingham Glen features many beautiful Rhododendrons, which are the only exception to this all Carolina-native plants garden. If you want to walk through a calm, Carolina landscape, visit the Glen.

The Van Landingham Glen is also a respite from the busy university life that few campuses offer. This is the final resting place of the UNC Charlotte visionary and community leader, Bonnie E. Cone. Her resting place is a peaceful area to sit and appreciate her contributions to this university during its early, formative years, or to simply enjoy a beautiful day on the campus she helped build.

Titan Arum

Bizarre, huge, confusing, and maybe even smelly; these are the common impressions guests have of our Titan Arum plants. The Titan Arum plants, also known as corpse flowers, live in the Tropical Plants collection of the McMillan Greenhouse. If you’ve heard of a strange, stinky plant that only blooms every 7-10 years–this is it!

We are proudly home to multiple corpse flowers, the first blooming in 2007, and the most recent blooming in 2023. Though their bloom is a sight and smell to behold, they are spectacular plants to witness between bloomings as well. During this time, they resemble a tree, but its “trunk” is one giant leaf with smaller leaflets that look like their own leaves.

Carolina Garden Trail

An outdoor, living exhibit is on its way to the UNC Charlotte campus to tell the story of North Carolina through plants and crops crucial to the state’s development.

A team composed of the university’s Center for the Study of the New South,
Botanical Gardens, and Urban Institute received a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council for the project, “Walking Through Carolina: An Outdoor Living Exhibit.” The project was one of three chosen statewide to receive support through the Council’s 2019 large grant program for community based public humanities programs.

By interpreting North Carolina’s diverse cultures through a historical garden trail, the UNC Charlotte project will illustrate how plants speak universally. The trail will tell the story of North Carolina through these plants and crops.

Polly Rodgers Memorial Garden

Polly Rogers, a Sophomore at UNC Charlotte, tragically passed away in May 2018. She was young, beautiful, and full of life. Polly was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority at UNC Charlotte and was studying special education in the Cato College of Education. She was warm and very caring to all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

The Polly Rogers Sensory Garden engages and stimulates all the senses through plantings and interactive elements. Polly’s Garden is nestled in a forested portion of the Gardens, adjacent to a stream, yet fully accessible via stone and brick paths. The magical space is contemplative and peaceful, yet, at the same time, colorful, whimsical, and fun, in keeping with Polly’s spirit.