A 446-acre research and display garden run by the Department of Agriculture, admission free, and among the least-visited large open spaces in the city despite its scale. The best-known feature is the National Capitol Columns: twenty-two Corinthian sandstone columns that stood on the east portico of the Capitol from 1828 until 1958, re-erected in a meadow where they read as a ruin. Elsewhere there are azalea hillsides, an aquatic garden, a Fern Valley of native plants and the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, which includes a Japanese white pine that survived the bombing of Hiroshima. Distances between collections are considerable and the site is designed for driving or cycling; public transport connections are limited.
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