Welcome to Virginia Western's Community Arboretum
The Community Arboretum is a two-acre educational garden located on the campus of Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke, Virginia. Eleven separate gardens and plant collections surround a centrally located amphitheater and are home to approximately 700 labeled plant taxa. The garden collections include a Children’s Garden with a plant maze and plant zoo. Our newest addition, the City Garden, includes sustainable features such as rainwater collection systems and drip irrigation. The Arboretum is also an official site for an All-America Selections Display Garden.
For more information, please contact Clark BeCraft at 540-857-6388.
For directions, please refer to our Visit VWCC page.
2025 Plant Sales
Spring Perennial Sale:
- Friday, April 4: 3 PM – 6 PM
- Saturday, April 5: 10 AM – 1 PM
Spring Bedding and Vegetable Sale:
- Friday, May 2: 3 PM – 6 PM
- Saturday, May 3: 10 AM – 1 PM
Fall Pansy and Perennial Sale:
- Friday, September 19: 3 PM – 6 PM
- Saturday, September 20: 10 AM – 1 PM
Poinsettia Sale:
- Friday, December 5: 3 PM – 6 PM
- Saturday, December 6: 10 AM – 1 PM
Sales take place in the Virginia Western Greenhouse and Natural Science Center.
Plant Sale Guidelines & Protocol:
Please visit the Arboretum Facebook page or call us at 540-857-6388 for updates on any cancellations or postponement due to weather or other campus related events.
2025 Events
The arboretum is open to the public from sun up to sun down. Stop by this growing season to enjoy the beauty of the gardens.
The Hinoki Bonsai Club Spring Symposium ’25 Featuring Shannon Salyer
Sunday, April 6, 2025
A knowledgeable and gifted artist, Shannon has developed an expertise with Shohin Bonsai, which can be held in the palm of your hand. Shannon has been developing only the finest plant material at Kusa Farm Nursery for over 20 years specializing in the art of creating Shohin Bonsai. He is widely known for sharing his expertise with exuberance.
The public is welcome to observe at all events. The Bonsai exhibit is open for viewing all day.
9:30 AM: Registration
10 AM – 12 PM: Shohin Bonsai Lecture/Demo (Forest Planning) FREE
12:30 PM – 3 PM: Shohin Bonsai Workshop – Limited to 10 participants
Trident maples trees will be the featured specimen varying in size, well rooted, and 1-3 years old. Each tree will cost $3.00. A tile slab and muck soil will be provided to hold your Shohin forest together. Participants are encouraged to bring their own moss.
Register early to assure workshop participation. All participants need to be members of the HINOKI BONSAI CLUB ($10 for individual/$15 for family). If interested, complete the club membership form below and mail it with the fee to Roberto Lanahan (address on the form). Participants will be selected in the order that they are received.
Registration Form (PDF)
Pinwheels for Prevention
Stop by in the month of April to see the large display of pinwheels planted in the Annual Garden by Children’s Trust. Pinwheels for Prevention will be on display for the month of April in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
National Garden Bureau’s 2024 Year of the Plant Selections featured at the Arboretum:
Join us as we highlight the 2024 Year of Plants selections. Each plant selection will be featured on our Facebook page and on display at the Arboretum.
All-America Selections Display Garden
Visit the Arboretum this growing season to tour the All-America Selections (AAS) display garden below the City Garden Deck. AAS winners will be planted in all the annual displays throughout the arboretum. Late May to September are the best times to see the annual displays at their peak. Visit us and let us know how well we interpreted the theme. Visit www.all-americaselections.org for more information.
Arboretum News
The Gazebo Project Campaign
A five-year effort to replace the Community Arboretum’s gazebo and replace it with one to last for the ages came to a beautiful close on Sept. 23, 2022. The new gazebo was dedicated at a garden party accompanied by a few afternoon sprinkles and a Roanoke Symphony duet. Arboretum volunteers, donors and Virginia Western leadership gathered to share the history of the gazebo and praise the Educational Foundation fundraising campaign that made it possible. Over the past five years, individuals, families and organizations have bought inscribed pavers to be laid as the surface floor of the structure. With the completion of the gazebo, it can return to its place as a community asset for both quiet moments of reflection and a gathering place where memories are made.
Click here to see a list of Inscribed Arboretum Pavers and their donors.
Help us “raise the roof” with your purchase of commemorative pavers.
Inscribed pavers are still available!
Engraved pavers may be placed with the following contributions:
- $1,000, 8×8 placed in the floor under the roof of the gazebo. Includes Souvenir mini-brick and a Certificate of Authenticity.
- $500, 4×8 placed in the floor under the roof of the gazebo. Includes a Certificate of Authenticity.
- $250, 4×8 placed in the floor under the roof of the gazebo.
- $150, 4×8 placed in the walkway around the outside of the gazebo.
CLICK HERE to donate to the Arboretum and make your contribution today, OR
You may use this form and send a check made out to the Virginia Western Educational Foundation with Gazebo Project in the memo line.
Mail to:
Virginia Western Educational Foundation
3093 Colonial Ave SW
Roanoke, VA 24015
Please include text to be placed on paver with your check (Maximum of 20 characters per line, including spaces and punctuation. Maximum 6 lines per 8×8 paver and 3 lines per 4×8 paver.)
Text will be engraved in all capital letters and will be centered on the paver.
The Community Arboretum reserves the right to review and approve all inscriptions and to deny inscriptions that are deemed to be inappropriate.
Paver Reservation Form (PDF)
Friends of the Arboretum
Help keep our programs – and plants – alive and growing!
By supporting the Friends of the Arboretum program, you are directly supporting our day-to-day operations, projects and community outreach. You may choose to support the Annual Operating Fund, the Gazebo Project, and the Community Arboretum Endowment Fund.
Friends at the Individual and Family/Dual Level are entitled to the following benefits:
- Seasonal Newsletter
- Discounts on seminars, workshops and special events
- Garden tours to East Coast destinations at a special Friends rate
- Friends-only designated times during plant sales
- Volunteer opportunities
Friends at the Sponsor Level are entitled to the following benefits:
- All of the above, plus
- A complimentary poinsettia and a spring flowering basket from our plant sales
Friends at the Patron Level are entitled to the following benefits:
- All of the above, plus
- Friends Contributor Card allowing reciprocal privileges at over 300 participating American Horticultural Society gardens
Friends at the Benefactor Level are entitled to the following benefits:
- All of the above, plus
- A complimentary 1-hour landscape consultation from a member of the Arboretum/Horticulture staff
Give Now!
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Virginia Western Community College
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