Specifically, in Hawaii. That’s where the Milky Way Galaxy has been modeled through flowers and plants to represent stars, planets, and all the dust and gas in between.
Of course, it’s called the Galaxy Garden. The designer, an astronomical artist with an apparent predilection for gardening, worked with astronomers to map the dominant features of the Milky Way onto a quarter acre of lawn. I think the idea is called “concept gardening.”
The shape of the garden is based on the arms of the galaxy. Different types of hibiscus flowers represent nebula, and gold dust crotons - green leafed plants speckled with yellow - represent stars, dust, and gas.
An astronomically correct black well fountain is the black hole at the center of the galaxy. And there’s other nice garden features, like a “Philosopher’s Bench” at the intersection of Sagittarius and Orion arms. It’s a good place to contemplate the vastness and mysteries of the galaxy, or to simply gaze at the carefully arranged foliage. 
After the precedent of the Galaxy Garden, it’s only a matter of time before we see start seeing more science-themed gardens popping up all over the country. Double-helix DNA gardens will appear in biologists’ backyards, and brain scan-inspired designs will dazzle the guests of neurologists. Dinosaur gardens will rise from the earth, and marine biologists will spend their days off trimming their dolphin and whale topiaries. And for the D.I.Y. gardeners, there will be a kit to map your own genetic code onto the landscape (genetic coding not included). What kind of science garden would you like to see?
Images and information are from galaxygarden.net. For a virtual tour of the garden (if you don’t have a visit to the Big Island planned in the near future), click here.
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