Show famous botanic garden the botanic garden in washington was established by the columbian institute for the promotion of arts and sciences incorporated by an net act of congress april 20 1818 the present site was granted by congress in IV 1820 0 and there Is a tradition that george washington contemplated the establishment li lish ment of gardens in this locality up to 1836 no improvements had been made the tract was a stagnant and malarial swamp and congress was prevailed upon to make an appropriation of for improvements the real beginning however of the botanic garden dates from the wilkes exploration expedition of 1838 to 1842 the staff included a botanist W 3 D breckenridge who brought back from an expedition to the south seas a large collection of specimens amens including seeds and cuttings this formed the nucleus of the botanical collection |