Unique Experiences

Item Description

Pittsburgh Botanic Garden
Oakdale, PA
Keith Kaiser, Executive Director

This package for up to four people includes:

• Admission to Pittsburgh Botanic Garden
• Private tour led by Keith Kaiser, Executive Director
• Catered lunch with Keith Kaiser served in the Garden’s restored 1870s barn
• One night stay at Fairfield Inn by Marriott Pittsburgh Airport/Robinson Township, including complimentary airport shuttle and free hot breakfast (valued at $169/room – choice of two rooms with king-sized beds, or one room with two queen beds)

Pittsburgh Botanic Garden inspires people to value plants, garden design and the natural world by cultivating plant collections of the Allegheny Plateau and temperate regions, creating display gardens, conducting educational programs and conserving the environment.

Open since April 2015, the Garden is unique among cultural institutions by providing a place of beauty and serenity to reconnect with the outdoors while creating an atmosphere of excitement and discovery for all ages. Conceived in the late 1980s, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is built upon 460 acres of reclaimed mine land. Acres of forest that were logged and mined are coming back to life with healthy trees, inviting trails, forested slopes and open meadows. Within the 60-acre woodlands open to the public, the Garden fosters appreciation of native plants of the Western Allegheny Plateau by educating about plants, gardening, and the environment.

Opening in the spring of 2019 is the new Hillside Pollinator Garden, followed in late 2019 by the Garden of the Five Senses.

Keith S. Kaiser has been Executive Director of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden since August 2016. Responsible for leading the Garden through the next phase of growth and development, Keith brings years of experience at public gardens in Ohio. Twenty-seven of those years were spent at Fellows Riverside Gardens, a 12-acre public display garden located in Youngstown. Previous to that, Keith worked at Kingwood Center Gardens and Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Keith completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Ornamental Horticulture from The Ohio State University.  It was in 1978, when Keith completed his first internship experience at a public garden, that he found his connection and interest in public horticulture.  He actively participates in activities of the American Public Gardens Association; recently serving as Chair for the Small Gardens Section and host of the Small Gardens Professional Development Symposium.  

Item Special Note

Best times to visit: Dependent upon the seasonal interests of the prize winner; Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is an all-outdoor garden and is open year-round.

Conditions/limitations: tour to be arranged at a mutually agreeable time subject to the Garden’s availability by October 31, 2019. Hotel reservation is based on room availability.