This program presents the many ways the gardens of the University of Virginia enhance the lives of students and faculty and serve the academic mission of the University. It discusses how gardens were an important part of Thomas Jefferson's original plan for the University of Virginia by providing quiet places of respite for faculty, outdoor classrooms to teach science, and sources of fresh vegetables for the dining halls. Today the gardens continue to enrich the lives of students and faculty and serve an even wider range of uses. They are places of quiet study and contemplation. They are outdoor classrooms, not only in the sense that they are places of meeting but also in that they serve as learning laboratories for plant science, landscape architecture, and studio art classes. They are venues for weddings, parties, and graduation ceremonies. Faculty who live near the gardens cherish them as spaces for relaxation, reading, and contemplation, and various student groups use them for meetings and social gatherings, as stages for performance, and as venues for debating societies.

Host Rebecca Frischkorn discusses with students, faculty, alumni, and administrators the many ways the gardens serve the University community today and continue a legacy of almost 200 years. An animated watercolor plan by landscape architect Emmanuel Didier highlights the various features of the gardens.