POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam celebrated the opening of its new WISER Botanical Garden on Oct. 23, recognizing a gift of more than $550,000 from alumni supporters Bob Wagner and Wendy Lee Wagner that helped make the project possible.

The garden, adjacent to the Wagner Institute for Sustainability and Ecological Resilience (WISER), is designed to provide hands-on learning opportunities for students while creating an outdoor space for education and exploration by the campus and regional communities.

The garden builds on the success of the WISER Greenhouse, which opened about a decade ago, extending experiential learning into a landscape featuring native plants and ecological features.

“We set out in 2022 with two main concepts: to design a garden that would be enjoyed as an outdoor space by the campus and community, and to design a garden space to be used as an outdoor resource laboratory,” Bob Wagner said. The laboratory will allow faculty to teach students about native plant communities and the pollinators that use them.

“I believe this will become the preeminent native species botanical garden of the North Country,” he said.

The garden includes 14 distinct garden islands spread across more than 7,000 square feet, along with accessible pathways, lighting and a sustainably harvested redwood pergola.

Wendy Lee Wagner, who has a degree in plant science from SUNY Cobleskill and works as a garden designer, helped select and source the plants, which are native to the region and intended to support pollinators, birds and other wildlife.

“This past summer, our SUNY Potsdam students planted and cared for 182 pots of native plants, 23 trees, 70 shrubs and 70 perennials, ferns and grasses,” she said.

“I’m hoping this garden will show you that you can have beauty, as well as high pollinator and wildlife value,” she said, citing garden phlox and mountain mint as examples of native perennials that attract more than 100 types of pollinators.

During the ceremony, the college recognized the Wagners with an official naming resolution approved unanimously by the SUNY Potsdam College Council.

President Suzanne R. Smith thanked the couple for their financial support and hands-on involvement in the garden’s development.

“From the original vision for the garden, to its design, to the work of building and planting it, you’ve been here, working alongside our campus community and our students every step of the way,” Smith said.

Amy Kellogg, president of the Potsdam College Foundation Board of Trustees, also recognized the Wagners’ longstanding support of the college and their leadership in its Deeply Rooted, Future Focused fundraising campaign.

WISER Center Coordinator Ray Bowdish and Associate Professor Katherine Cleary led planting efforts this summer and fall with student interns and guidance from the Wagners. Cleary and Instructional Support Specialist Rachel Wallace will continue overseeing the garden and center following Bowdish’s upcoming retirement.

Students Jasmine Crump and Kendyll Mack also spoke at the ceremony about their experiences helping develop the garden and working with faculty, staff and donors.

Crump said the Wagners’ support extends beyond the garden to other WISER initiatives, giving students opportunities to apply their knowledge of agriculture and sustainability and contribute to food insecurity projects.

SUNY Potsdam alumnus and landscape architect Evan Blondell designed the garden. Foundation board member Brooks Washburn served as the licensed architect and site manager. Dow Electric was the contractor, with additional support from the college’s Physical Plant staff.

The Wagners also installed two abstract sculptures by Adirondack artist John Van Alstine. The sculptures were gifts from alumni supporters Kathy Kofoed Lougheed and her late husband, Don Lougheed.

For more information about the Deeply Rooted, Future Focused campaign, visit potsdam.edu/deeplyrooted.