The Stark Winter Beauty of East Hill’s Garden Spots
Join us for a photographic tour of some of the Ithaca campus’s lush flora, as it slumbers amid blankets of snow
By Beth Saulnier; photography by Sreang Hok & Jason Koski
As anyone who has trudged up a slushy Libe Slope in sneakers can attest, winter on East Hill has its downsides. But in the colder months, campus also has an undeniable beauty—from an ice-covered Beebe Lake to the cap of white atop Ezra Cornell’s statued head.
As students and faculty settle in for a new semester, we highlight an aspect of East Hill’s aesthetics that can be easily overlooked in the daily bustle of classes and research: the gardens and other natural spaces that, during warmer times, offer a showier sort of beauty.
Scroll down for a seasonal tour of images taken in the Botanic Gardens and at spots around campus, from the Johnson Museum to the Ag Quad.
Snow brings the decorative ironwork around Minns Garden into striking relief.
Snow-capped plants at the Botanic Gardens.
Unfallen leaves outside Weill Hall.
At the Botanic Gardens, trellised archways stand out against the snow.
The gardens behind the A.D. White House lie dormant.
A four-legged visitor to the Botanic Gardens.
A peaceful mood outside Goldwin Smith.
Part of the Botanic Gardens’ Mullestein Winter Garden, designed to be at its most beautiful at this time of year.
The Morgan Japanese Garden (designed by Marc Peter Keane ’79) at the Johnson Museum of Art.
A view from under the Botanic Gardens’ pergola, adjacent to its Robison Herb Garden.
A wintry scene near the herb garden and pergola.
The museum’s Japanese Garden, viewed from above.
The bronze Yarb Woman statue by Elfriede Abbe ’40 stands in the Botanic Gardens’ herb garden.
Another Mullestein Winter Garden view.
Top image: An aerial view of plantings at the Botanic Gardens.
Published February 4, 2025
Beautiful photos. Some new places for me that I would love to see. Favorite winter memory for me in my day was when word came through that it was cold enough for us to wear slacks to class. Class of ’61
Amazing to remember how cold it had to be to let us wear slacks to class. Now they wear pajamas in some schools. Of course, the professors had the same restrictions.
Even when we were allowed to wear slacks it was a matter of pride not to!
Beautiful collection of nature’s beauty.
So glad to see the recognition for the Herb Garden! I got my BS degree in Engineering in 1970. I worked at Celestial Seaonings from 1976-1993 and was President and CEO from 1984-1993. We changed the way America eats!
What a treat this is! Thank you.
So beautiful! These pictures evoke a sense of quiet and calm, such marvelous accompaniment to a Cornellian’s scholarly pursuit. Thank you!
Poetic, evocative and inspiring images! Wish that I had taken the time to visit and appreciate these places when covered in snow. Was probably too busy tray-sliding down Libe Slope………..