Glorious to View

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.

A wrought iron arch botanical sculpture in Minns Garden

Snow brings the decorative ironwork around Minns Garden into striking relief.

Snow-capped plants at the Botanic Gardens.

A tree with dead leaves in the snow outside Weill Hall

Unfallen leaves outside Weill Hall.

Bare branches over wrought iron arches in snow

At the Botanic Gardens, trellised archways stand out against the snow.

A bare tree covered in snow outside the back of A.D. White House

The gardens behind the A.D. White House lie dormant.

A four-legged visitor to the Botanic Gardens.

Snow covered bushes and a tree outside Goldwin Smith Hall

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.

A snowy winter view of the Johnson Museum's Japanese Garden

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.

Snow covered plants next to a building at the Botanic Gardens

A wintry scene near the herb garden and pergola.

An aerial view o the Johnson Museum's Japanese Garden in winter

The museum’s Japanese Garden, viewed from above.

A statue of a woman in a hat and coat, surrounded by snow and snow-covered plants

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

Comments

Susan Anderson, Class of 1961
6 Feb, 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

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- Frances Ruoff
  7 Feb, 2025
  
  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.
  
  Reply
- Marian, Class of 1961
  11 Feb, 2025
  
  Even when we were allowed to wear slacks it was a matter of pride not to!
  
  Reply
MarthaAnn Moses
7 Feb, 2025

Beautiful collection of nature’s beauty.

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Barnet Feinblum, Class of 1970
7 Feb, 2025

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!

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Helen A. Claxton, Class of 1970
8 Feb, 2025

What a treat this is! Thank you.

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Sharmila J. Rao, Class of 1991
14 Feb, 2025

So beautiful! These pictures evoke a sense of quiet and calm, such marvelous accompaniment to a Cornellian’s scholarly pursuit. Thank you!

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Philip Schwartz, Class of 1970
23 Feb, 2025

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………..

Reply