Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden

Miller Garden, dining room terrace

Photo ©2020 Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden

The Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden is the horticultural legacy of Elisabeth Miller. She and her husband, Pendleton Miller, purchased five acres of land in 1948 north of Seattle, Washington for its expansive views over Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.

As a self-taught gardener, Mrs. Miller found rare and unusual plants challenging and rewarding to grow as she began to collect and plant them in her garden beginning in the 1960’s and continuing until her death in 1994. Over her lifetime, she amassed a horticulturally significant collection that rivaled many much larger botanical gardens, gaining her a reputation for being one of the most knowledgeable plantswomen of her day.

Mrs. Miller wanted her garden to serve as a botanical resource after she was gone, so she made arrangements for the creation of a unique non-profit botanical garden. Continuing with her vision, the Garden staff focuses on new, rare, and uncommon plants as well as evaluating plants that have the potential to be well-suited for the climate of the maritime Pacific Northwest. The Miller Foundation makes a substantial grant annually to support general operation of the Garden.