The Sawtooth Botanical Garden (5 acres) is a high-altitude botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 located off Highway 75 at 11 Gimlet Road, Ketchum, Idaho

Ketchum, Idaho

Ketchum is a city in Blaine County, Idaho, United States, in the central part of the state. The population was 3,003 at the 2000 census. It is in the Wood River Valley, adjacent to Sun Valley; the two communities share many resources and both sit in the same valley beneath Bald Mountain, with its...

, USA. It is open to the public.

The garden was founded in 1994. It now includes a stream-side garden, ornamental garden, xeriscape garden, research area, a greenhouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

 (1550 square feet) displaying flowering perennials, herb

Herb

Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

s, and vine

Vine

A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...

s, and a main building.

In August 2005 a notable new garden was constructed, the Garden of Infinite Compassion, designed by landscape designer Martin Mosko, Zen Buddhist monk and abbot of the Hakubai Temple in Boulder, Colorado

Boulder, Colorado

Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

. It is an alpine garden with osteospurmum, arabis

Arabis

Arabis , or rockcress, is a genus of flowering plants, within the family Brassicaceae, subfamily Brassicoideae.Though traditionally recognized as a large genus with many Old World and New World members, more recent evaluations of the relationships among these species using genetic data suggest that...

, arnica

Arnica

Arnica is a genus with about 30 perennial, herbaceous species, belonging to the sunflower family . The genus name Arnica may be derived from the Greek arna, "lamb", in reference to the soft, hairy leaves....

, alpine asters, poppies

Poppy

A poppy is one of a group of a flowering plants in the poppy family, many of which are grown in gardens for their colorful flowers. Poppies are sometimes used for symbolic reasons, such as in remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime....

, orchids, columbine

Aquilegia

Aquilegia is a genus of about 60-70 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals of their flowers.-Etymology:The genus name Aquilegia is derived from the Latin word for eagle , because...

, and Lewisii, set with a waterfall, reflecting pond, and 16 rocks of up to 30 tons each, representing the 16 Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 arhats. The garden was built for a visit from the 14th Dalai Lama on September 13, 2005, who blessed the garden and a finely carved 400 pound Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

an prayer wheel

Prayer wheel

A prayer wheel is a cylindrical "wheel" on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather or coarse cotton. Traditionally, the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is written in Sanskrit on the outside of the wheel. Also sometimes depicted are Dakinis, Protectors and very often the 8 auspicious symbols...

 filled with over one million written mantra

Mantra

A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...

s, one of only two such prayer wheels to be erected in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Rather unusually, the prayer wheel is turned by the stream rather than by hand.

External links

• Sawtooth Botanical Garden