The landscape at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum includes over 2.5 acres of trees, shrubs, and perennials with an emphasis on plants native to eastern forests of the Piedmont region. Set in multiple tiers of terraces, the gardens around the museum help provide an ecological bridge that links the Potomac River to urban Washington, D.C. They demonstrate how native plants can be used in an urban public garden to provide beauty as well as habitat for birds and insects.