The United States Botanic Garden is a favorite summer destination, and the list of reasons to visit has gotten longer. In a recently opened exhibit, Celebrating America’s Public Gardens, the nation's most important public gardens have sponsored mini-displays in two sections called Green Today, Growing Tomorrows (in the National Garden, at the Mall end of the grounds) and A Sense of Place (on the Conservatory Terrace, facing Capitol Hill). In the latter exhibit, each garden's area attempts to reproduce its own distinctive regional character.

From Grand Rapids, the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park — yes, named for the man who created Meijer's, the store that never closes — represented the Great State of Michigan. The Great White North seemed somewhat plain next to the display from the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden and the pitcher plants and Venus flytraps from North Carolina. The folks from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a truly beautiful place, have recreated a typical brownstone front garden (shown here), for when you just need that taste of Park Slope. The tour of American climates even takes in the desert flora presented by the Denver Botanic Gardens and the cool cacti from California's Huntington Botanical Gardens. Best of all, on a hot day like today, there are shading arbors and covered tables to take a load off, as you lead your friends and family on that summer tour of the Mall.

The only thing that is missing, especially in the brutal heat, is a nice state-specific selection of cool drinks. Wouldn't a Maker's Mark on the rocks go down perfectly as you learn about Kentucky's Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest? An ice cold Sapporo next to the very Kill Bill zen meditation space (without the snow, of course) from Oregon's Portland Japanese Garden? A Mai Tai under the thatch hut erected by Hawaii's National Tropical Botanical Garden? Yeah, yeah, apparently alcohol is not a good idea during a heat advisory, because of dehydration or something, so bring me two and go heavy on the ice cubes.

Photo by Patrick Cullina, courtesy Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The United States Botanic Garden is located at Independence Ave. and First St. SW. A Sense of Place is open through October 8, and admission is free. Consult their Web site for more information.