Westby Wilds

Westby Wilds

Westby Wilds, a Native Plant Smell Garden

The educational mission, for this ornamental public garden, is to invite visitors to savor the fragrance of native plants (“stop and smell the anise hyssop!”) and learn how to cultivate critical wildlife habitat. Located at Westby Hall, home to Department of Art, Westby Wilds, a Native Smell Garden elevates the importance of beauty, art, and human aesthetic enjoyment through horticulture, creatively demonstrates the culture, care, and use of fragrant native plants. Established in 2021 by Rowan University faculty and students in partnership with the Division of Facilities, Planning & Operations, this aromatic native plant garden creatively links bioregional stewardship and wellness practices through a ‘nose-first’ approach to rewilding our campus, located in the Delaware Valley. 

Westby Wilds, a Native Smell Garden challenges traditional aesthetic norms rooted in extractive practices—such as turf monocultures and invasive ornamental species—by offering a living example of how native ornamentals create biodiverse beauty; wildly fragrant and visually vibrant landscapes. Exploring a native plant garden through scent is one way to join and appreciate the ongoing chemical conversation already underway between plants, pollinators, and other wildlife.

With direct links to emotion and memory, the human sense of smell (olfaction) deepens relationships between people, place, and aromatic ornamental plants. Through formal education programs, community outreach, public events, and collaborative projects, we seek to demonstrate the ornamental and ecological value of native plants to both the Rowan University campus and the greater Mid-Atlantic Region.

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To get involved, email kitson@rowan.edu and sweigart@rowan.edu.