Andersen Horticultural Library Off-campus

Located at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Andersen Horticultural Library (AHL) is a reference library specializing in horticulture, botanical art, plant sciences and natural history. 

In addition to the reference collection, custom-built Nakashima furnishings make this space a welcoming retreat for reading and reflection.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Collections

Digitized collections

Andersen Horticultural Library's digitized items are freely available online through the UMedia Archive.

Special Research Collections These collections can be viewed by appointment.

Seed and Nursery Catalogs

One of North America's largest seed and nursery catalog collections with over 76,000 items dating from 1614 to the current year.  More than 8,000 firms are represented.

Rare books and journals

Rare books and journals on horticulture, botany, garden design, botanical art and illustration, trees, birds, flowers, and other natural history subjects from the early 1500s to the present.

The Library collection is a rich resource for everyone from the weekend gardener planning a perennial border to the professional horticulturist.  

Its collection of nearly 20,000 books and 300 subscriptions to magazines, newsletters, and scientific journals provides information and inspiration.  

Areas of specialization include

  • horticulture,
  • botany,
  • landscape design,
  • botanical illustration,
  • garden crafts,
  • cookbooks, and
  • natural history.  

Included is a children's collection of books for readers of all ages. 

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Events

Photograph of person reading to a group of children and their adults

StoryTime

StoryTime at the Andersen Horticultural Library is now every Thursday, and the last Friday of each month at 10:30 a.m. 
We’ll celebrate plants, nature, and foster a love of reading as we explore the library's vast catalog of children’s books. StoryTime is recommended for ages 0-5, but all ages are welcome!

 

Hand drawn illustration of a pink and white tree peony

Call for artists

Artists from around the world are invited to show us the best of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s flora and fauna. Information about this joint project, as well as submission guidelines are available at Flora & Fauna Illustrata.

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Exhibits

Roses by a rainbow

Raindrops on Roses: A Few of Our Favorite Things

What do 100-year-old ‘Ice Cream’ watermelon seeds, Seedswomen, transforming wooden shipping crates, and anthropomorphic vegetables have in common? They can all be found in Andersen Horticultural Library’s immense archive of seed catalogs and trade-related artifacts. See a curated selection of staff favorite items in this eclectic display from Andersen Horticultural Library’s Historic Seed & Nursery Catalog Collection.

July 17 - December 23, 2026
botanical drawings

Seeing Science: Botanical Wall Charts from the Andersen Horticultural Library

Art, science, and education are brought together in these large-scale wall charts reproduced from the collection of the Andersen Horticultural Library. The original wall charts were created in Germany in the 1800s and early 1900s. Both educational tools and works of art, they represent the collaborative efforts of writers, botanists, artists, and educators.

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Give to the collection

The Andersen Horticultural Library relies on the generosity of the community to help fund its operations.  Your funds to help us get books, seed and nursery catalogs, and journals unique to our collection. Benefactors ensure our library's ability to educate and inspire.

Make a gift or become a Friend of AHL today.

Explore ways to give

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Visit the Andersen Horticultural Library

Plan your visit

Located in the Leon C. Snyder building at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, the Andersen Horticultural Library is open to the public. There is an admission fee for entry to the Arboretum, but it is waived for visitors who come only to research at the library. Get directions to the Arboretum, or view an interactive map of the Arboretum grounds. 

AHL is part of the University of Minnesota Libraries. A reading and reference library; items cannot be checked out.  Search the library's holdings by using the University Libraries' catalog.

To make an appointment to view rare and historic materials, contact the librarian, Kristen Mastel.

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