Public Garden
Boston
The Public Garden is Boston's great flower garden, just beside the Common. It was the first public botanical garden in America.
From marsh to garden
In the early 1800s there was nothing here but mud and salt water. The city filled it with earth, and in 1837 a group of citizens asked to plant a garden here. In 1859 a law set it aside for public use forever. The current design, with curving paths and flower beds, dates from those years and was drawn by George Meacham.
The pond and the boats
In the middle lies a pond shaped like a snake, with a little bridge by William Preston. Since 1877 the swan boats invented by Robert Paget have sailed on it. His family has run them for generations.
Flowers in every season
The city grows all the plants for the flower beds in its own greenhouses, more than 80 species. The beds change color from one season to the next. All around stand trees from half the world, such as elms, beeches and ginkgos.
The bronze ducks
In 1987 the sculptor Nancy Schön placed here the duck family from Robert McCloskey's book, published in 1941. The ducklings' heads shine, worn smooth by the pats of children.
