National Arboretum: Defines Hidden Treasure!

Just off New York Avenue northeast Washington DC sits the deceptively large National Arboretum.  The first fact about this gem is that for those of you watching your wallet during this long-lasting recession, admission is free!  You can also call a toll-free number to get a guided tour of the arboretum.
The arboretum features a variety of interesting gardens for the local naturalist.  There is an enormous bonsai museum which contains a Japanese, Chinese, and North American pavilion containing shaped bonsai plants from each region.  An indoor museum has a display called "Becoming a Bonsai" which has advice on pruning trees, wiring the trees, and potting the trees. 

Nearby sits a huge herb garden, which is divided by use of the herbs.  Inside you will find "beverage" (such as tea) herbs, the fragrance garden which has herbs like clove, gardenia, and rosemary, the culinary garden which has herbs like lemon thyme, and a medicinal garden!  The medicinal garden even has an "antibiotics" patch.  The herb garden also includes plants used by Native Americans in their practice, and a dye garden.
Just past the herb garden are columns from the central portico of the US Capitol, which were placed in the arboretum in 1990.  The arboretum notes that the columns, when at the Capitol, were a site of speeches, rallies, etc.

The next very intriguing garden is one which holds promise for our future -- the Farming Energy garden.  This garden has signs explaining that we will eventually run out of fossil fuel, but that familiar plants can in fact produce biofuel for our energy use -- if only our culture is able to adapt.  I know you're wondering what plants could be used, and how, so some examples are below.
The following plants can be used by producing biodiesel fuel: castor bean seed, mustard, sunflower, soy, peanut, and canola.  These next plants can be used by producing ethanol oil: barley, sugar, corn, and sugar beet!  The way these plants become fuel is that the alcohol they produce for regular consumption is further refined to produce fuel for cars. 

There are several other gardens, such as the Azalea collection and the Dogwood collection which I didn't see but may be of interest to the local nature lover.
Although the arboretum isn't particularly restful or wholly beautiful, it is very educational and it has picnic tables for those who wish to take the kids there for an afternoon.  It is also quite large, and can easily take several hours of the day.
Of note are the following recommendations:

• Go in the spring or fall, the humidity makes being outdoors for long very uncomfortable
• For those with children, note that there are only two bathrooms, no cafeteria, and a soda machine.  Come well prepared.
• For those with children or others that have difficulty moving around much, bring extra cash!  There is a trolley that drives around hourly (on the hour) during weekends that costs $4 cash for each adult, $3 cash for each senior citizen, and $2 cash per child.  By taking this, the visitor will see much more of the grounds.

For the local naturalists, gardeners, and others, this is a rare spot in the Washington DC area to connect with your interests and learn a few things.  Enjoy!