Located on the eastern edge of the University of Utah campus, the Red Butte Garden has served as a hub for plant enthusiasts and conservationists since the 1980s. Entering its 40th year, Red Butte continues to combine a sustainable approach to plant conservation. Its mission is to connect people with nature and spread awareness about biodiversity to the general public.
“It’s basically to connect people with plants,” Marita Tewes Tyrolt, director of horticulture at Red Butte, said.
Open year-round, the garden offers attractions like herb and fragrance gardens, art exhibits and a large variety of plant species. It also hosts a selection of outdoor classes and maintains more than five miles of hiking trails. Throughout its 40-year history, Red Butte has built a large collection of zones and gardens that people can experience.
“It’s different than a park or something else,” Tewes Tyrolt said. “As a botanical garden, that means that you are a museum of living plants.”
Dr. Walter Cottam and his plant research with hybrid oak trees in the Wasatch started what became the arboretum of today. Officially opened in 1985, it progressively grew to include more space like the Dumke Floral Walk, Children’s Garden and an amphitheater. Tewes Tyrolt explained the process of adopting new plants for these areas and raising them properly to highlight Utah’s plant life.
“[We’re] looking at our plant collections, [we ask] what do we have now and how do we want to improve those plant collections, and what could we add that would tell that story a little bit more.” she said.
Each garden has criteria for plants that can be added as a collection. For example, edibleness in the herb garden, companion plants that can go well with roses in the rose garden or types of fragrances in the fragrance garden.
“It first kind of starts with which garden is it going into and what is the purpose of that garden, so that we are selecting plants that are right for that space,” Tewes Tyrolt said.
Challenges and Opportunities
Red Butte’s unique location in the Wasatch foothills brings challenges and opportunities. Its high elevation and cold winters mean that plants must be exceptionally hardy to thrive in the garden’s conditions. This has lead to a history of trial and error with finding approaches to keeping plants alive while also displaying them in a way that catches the visitors’ attention.
Tewes Tyrolt said this attitude cultivates an environment of creativity and constant learning among the staff.
“At the garden, we feel like we need to try things out and figure out what works so that we can tell others,” she said. “So we’re usually pushing the envelope and not everything we try survives. But, when it does survive, then of course, we can tell people that this does well here.”
Mindy Wilson, director of marketing and PR at Red Butte, had previously worked at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts for 10 years before moving to the garden. She talked about what made the garden appealing for her.
“It offers a safe and accessible opportunity to get outdoors, to enjoy what’s beautiful about the wintertime and to get the benefits of time spent outdoors” Wilson said. “I was really interested in coming to the garden for the opportunity to work with scientists and plant people, to spend time outdoors, to learn more about plants, trees, and about our natural landscape.”
She also advised people who are interested in the garden to follow their page on Instagram, where they share news on events and classes as well as behind-the-scene stories. Additionally, the gift shop inside the visitor center offers local products like chocolate and honey to go along with the garden’s vision to bring people and nature closer together.
