Seoul Botanic Park exhibition shows how to bring plants into every corner of your home

Seoul Botanic Park will run a special exhibition titled "Green, Within" at the Garden Support Room and Project Hall 2 of its Plant Culture Center from Wednesday through Dec. 31, the park announced Saturday.

The exhibition moves beyond the familiar practice of placing plants in the living room, instead introducing ways to bring greenery into spaces where plants are rarely found — the kitchen, beside the bed and on the desk. The lifestyle plant-styling displays are on view at the Garden Support Room on the first floor of the Plant Culture Center.

The theme changes each month: this month focuses on the kitchen, November moves to the bedside and desktop, and December turns to the balcony. Starting Saturday and running through Dec. 26, live demonstrations will be held in the Garden Support Room on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, showing visitors how to make decorative props by hand and how to incorporate the finished pieces into everyday living spaces.

On the second floor of the Plant Culture Center, Project Hall 2 hosts a companion exhibition of pressed-flower specimens of useful plants. The park's plant research institute prepared the specimens using plants propagated in its cultivation greenhouse, and each month introduces native plants in need of protection and attention under a new theme. This month features 18 specimens across 17 Class II endangered wildlife species — including the prickly water lily. November follows with 16 specimens across 15 rare plant species designated by the Korea Forest Service, such as the Abelia spathulata, and December closes with 18 specimens across 15 endemic plant species designated by the Korea Forest Service, including Aruncus aethusifolius.

Seoul Botanic Park is also expanding its admission discount program starting this month. Pregnant women residing in Seoul — defined as women who are pregnant or within six months of giving birth — will be admitted free of charge. Seoul residents using the "Climate Card," "Modu Card" or "K-Pass," as well as holders of a valid short-term Climate Card, will receive a 50 percent discount on admission.

"We hope this becomes an opportunity for people to discover plants not merely as a special hobby, but as a natural presence woven into the everyday spaces we live in — our living rooms, bedrooms and balconies," said On Su-jin, director of Seoul Botanic Park.