University of Northern Iowa Botanical Center

09/05/2026

09/02/2026

Hey!! The UNI Botanical Center is doing a Maucker Union Live Event today from 11:00-1:00!!
Come and chat about plants and take away a freebie for your dorm or house!!
We’d love to see ya!!

09/01/2026

Our outdoor display gardens are hosting a myriad of creatures.
Several larval food sources are present- this monarch caterpillar has found some delicious common milkweed to bulk up on! We even found a chrysalis nearby, we will be watching it daily to see the progress!
So many nectar plants are feeding adult butterflies.
We invite you to stroll through and around the gardens to catch the flight of all varieties of butterflies this season!

08/31/2026

When faculty ask for a variety of flowers for Developmental Plant Anatomy Lab and there are too many to choose from! 😍

08/21/2026

Have you visited the greenhouse and wondered, ‘What was that smell?’
Highlighted here are a few that smell good and then some that smell bad. Find them the next time you’re in!

08/19/2026

Check this out!
This Pelican Flower, Aristolochia grandiflora, was donated to us by a supporter earlier this spring.
It has grown beautifully inside House 4 - vining up to the ceiling.
We’ve been waiting patiently for it to bloom and today is the day!!
As you can see from this University archive 1939 photo, the woman likely didn’t appreciate the foul odor. You can find more photos here:
http://scholarworks.uni.edu/uniphotos/

If you can’t make it in today, there are more flowers that will bloom in the future, stop in frequently- you don’t want to miss this beautiful bloom!

08/13/2026

Manager’s note:

It’s unfortunate that we have to post signs like these in the Botanical Center.
We love visitors,please be respectful to us,the birds,fish & plants.
The birds don’t want your hands in their face. The consequence is that you WILL get bitten.
You are a stranger,not their friend.
The waterfall can be slippery and isn’t a designated path.
The fish aren’t for grabbing. Your hands are dirty and so is the pond water.
The plants are for all to enjoy- including the fruits and flowers. Please don’t remove them.

We appreciate visitors who follow the rules.

08/11/2026

We are happy to share, with permission, these beautiful paintings by Sofia Rinehart.
Sofia’s family came in for a visit on a special day recently.
We absolutely love it when visitors share their creations with us!
Thanks Sofia, we hope to see you again soon!

08/10/2026

We’ve had a busy summer with general greenhouse work, garden installation and maintenance, trail mowing and maintenance including several storm clean up sessions, UNI Biology Preserve boundary maintenance and then tours for greenhouse visitors and Panther visit days.
In between all of that, there have been projects we’ve tended to that continually get put on the back burner.
This was one of them. The tropical house pond was in desperate need of a full cleaning.
It is done now and looks so fresh!! Check out the video in the comments!
When are you going to stop in and count the fish?

08/08/2026

Sent to us by a verified basil buyer who said they were making oven roasted tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes, peppers, onions and 2 types of our basil!

Yummy!

This year’s sale had several types of basil for our patrons to choose from.
Did you pick some up, what type did you buy?
How do you use your basil?
Feel free to share recipes in the comments!