With springtime comes anticipation of blooming gardens and leafy green trees. The federal government doesn't have quite the same excitement, we would guess, based on their recent slashing of the U.S. National Arboretum's budget, as the Washington Post reported this weekend. The $2 million eliminated from next year's budget could drastically cut public programming, research on rare and new species of plants, and permanently stall much needed expansion projects. Even worse:Supporters of the arboretum say......

We were alerted yesterday by Jon at the DC Traveler that the mighty Titan Arum has begun blooming at the US Botanic Garden. He was, no doubt, tipped off by the oh-so-lovely smell of rotting corpse wafting through his window, which the flower uses to attract meat-loving (at least, meat-stench-loving) bugs to pollinate it. The giant, odorous plant seems to be falling into habit, blooming every two years since 2003 -- before that it hadn't......

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......

Flickr user Grundlepuck already had me with the sharp marco of this unusual, beautiful flower greeting its visitor against the wide open sky at the U.S. Botanic Garden, but he sealed it with the photo's title. Catch the EXIF data here.......

And a happy Friday morning to you, Washington. Heads up: Metro's Yellow Line from King Street to Mt. Vernon Square will not be running this weekend due to track maintenance starting tonight at 10 p.m. Folks will be forced off at King Street, and those going between Mt. Vernon Square and L'Enfant Plaza will be forced to ride the Green Line. Things are expected to be running back on schedule by Monday morning. Large Part......

Good morning, Washington. Today will be cloudy and cool with a 60 percent chance of rain in the afternoon. Today the National Zoo is releasing the first tickets to the general public to catch a glimpse of the baby panda - go to their website and get yours, if you can. If you work on the hill the AP is reporting the smoke which caused an evacuation of the Rayburn House Office Building this morning......

Taking advantage of last weekend's unseasonably warm weather to visit some sites at the National Mall last weekend, we were curious to discover a rather long line at the U.S. Botanic Gardens. It turns out the attraction of note was their annual holiday exhibit, "Home for the Holidays: A Sentimental Journey," which "recalls the post-World War II holidays when families were reunited, a peaceful future beckoned, and celebrations had developed a distinctly American style." The......

DCist recently saw "The Manchurian Candidate" and saw some startling similarities to Washington in the movie and Washington in reality. First off, our recent terror warning with checkpoints leading to Capitol Hill seems to fit in with the theme of the movie. But one thing was definitely off. The reception/lobbying schmoozefest/fundraiser at the U.S. Botanic Garden at the foot of Capitol Hill seems to not jibe with Senate rules. In the movie, Sen. Eleanor Prentiss......