U.S. Central
These are gardens I’ve been to in the central United States that I believe are worth a visit. I’d highly advise double-checking on hours before visiting since not all are open every day or year round.
CLEVELAND BOTANICAL GARDEN
Location: 11030 East Boulevard in University Circle area of Cleveland, Ohio, near the Cleveland Museum of Art and Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
Double arch at Cleveland Botanical Garden.
Overview: 10 acres of theme gardens along with a very nice, 2003-built conservatory on land that once was home to the Cleveland Zoo. Closed Mondays.
Highlights: The Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse shows two different warm-weather settings (desert of Madagascar and cloud forest of Costa Rica) along with the plants that are home in those settings. Outdoor gardens include the Hershey Children’s Garden, a perennial garden, rose garden, horticulture-therapy garden, herb garden, Japanese garden, woodland garden and a nice collection of topiaries.
George’s Take: I liked the kids garden here best. Lots of hands-on things to do. Also interesting when I was there was a sort of show among area landscapers, who each designed and built a style of small home garden. Not sure if that became a permanent feature…
Contact info: www.cbgarden.org 216-721-1600
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN
Location: 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Ill., off Route 41 about 20 miles north of Chicago.
Chicago Botanic’s Enabling Garden.
Overview: 385 acres in suburban Chicago with 23 display gardens, three native habitats and varied landscape of woods, lakes and islands. Founded in 1972 by the Chicago Horticultural Society.
Highlights: Novel display gardens such as an English Walled Garden, an Enabling Garden with accessibility ideas, and a Heritage Garden of classic plants divided by geography and scientific classification. It also has active plant-collecting and plant-evaluating programs; a bonsai collection; fruit and vegetable gardens; a conservation focus on endangered plants, and a cutting-edge pot-recycling program. Excellent plant information service, too.
George’s Take: My, what those Chicagoans have done to this one-time swamp! They’ve got some novel and creative themed displays and enough variety to easily spend the day gawking. One of my top 10 public gardens.
Contact info: www.chicago-botanic.org 847-835-5440.
DALLAS ABORETUM AND BOTANICAL GARDEN
Location: 8617 Garland Road in East Dallas, Texas, on the southeastern shore of White Rock Lake.
Water-spouting frog fountains at Dallas Arboretum.
Overview: Two private estates with homes were put together to create this 66-acre botanic garden in 1984. A lot of it is more formal in nature than some gardens, and it has numerous fountains, statuary and landscape structures in addition to nice “borrowed views” of the bordering lake and Dallas skyline.
Highlights: 19 different theme gardens – some of them not your typical ideas – give plenty of variety to Dallas’ arboretum. Some of the most interesting include the prairie setting geared mainly to kids, a Woman’s Garden of numerous designed rooms (almost a whole botanical garden in its own right), a seasonal garden of mostly annual flowers, a pecan grove, a rose garden, a fern dell shade garden, a children’s garden, a trial garden of new plants, and collections of camellias, crape myrtles and magnolias.
George’s Take: It gets so hot for so long in Dallas that it’s a wonder they can keep most of this place alive, much less have the variety and look that they do. Try to visit in spring or fall if you go – it’s brutally hot in summer. This arboretum is spacious, has a nice mix of gardens, and it’s a good lesson in which plants can truly take the heat. Be sure to allow plenty of time to explore here.
Contact info: www.dallasarboretum.org 214-515-6615
DAWES ARBORETUM
Location: 7770 Jacksontown Road, Heath, Ohio, located 30 miles east of Columbus.
The Japanese garden at Dawes Arboretum.
Overview: Tree- and shrub-lovers as well as hikers will love these sprawling 1,800 acres in the countryside of southeastern Ohio. It has 12 miles of wooded and meadow hiking trails, or you can drive a 4-mile loop into highlighted areas. Dates to 1929 and was home to oil executive and Ohio congressman Beman Dawes and his wife, Bertie.
Highlights: The lakeside Japanese Garden is the main signature garden, although the gardens around the Visitor Center and Daweswood house offer good variety and color. The real stars are the woody plants and the encyclopedic lineup of species and varieties – nearly 7,000 conifers, 1,300 crabapples, 1,000 hollies, 1,800 rhododendrons and azaleas, and so on.
George’s Take: The Japanese Garden is my favorite spot here, but the coolest thing is the arborvitae hedge that spells out Dawes Arboretum in huge living letters. See it from the Outlook Tower. A very relaxing place and perfect for plant-lovers who like a good, long walk. Several more pictures from Dawes are in my Photo Gallery from the 2013 trip to Ohio gardens.
Contact info: http://dawesarb.org 740-323-2355
FRANKLIN PARK CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS
Location: 1777 E. Broad St., in the city of Columbus, Ohio.
The outdoor gardens behind the Franklin Park Conservatory.
Overview: The Victorian-style conservatory itself is a huge, impressive glasshouse dating to 1895 with rooms representing diverse climates, including the Himalaya Mountains, a tropical rainforest, a desert and a Pacific Island habitat. The surrounding 90 acres of grounds are park-like with an assortment of gardens.
Highlights: Besides the differing habitats, the conservatory features a bonsai courtyard, orchids, a butterfly exhibit, several impressive courtyard gardens, a large Palm House and many blown-glass art done by Dale Chihuly.
George’s Take: My favorite view is from the huge formal gardens behind the conservatory looking up to it. The Palm House is the “wow-est” part of the conservatory, which is one of the five best I’ve seen anywhere. And I loved the separate 4-acre Scotts Miracle-Gro Community Garden that abuts the Franklin Park grounds and has all sorts of home-demo gardens and growing ideas. Don’t miss that while you’re there. Several more pictures from Franklin Park Conservatory are in my Photo Gallery from a 2013 trip to Ohio gardens.
Contact info: www.fpconservatory.org 614-715-8000
FREDERIK MEIJER GARDENS AND SCULPTURE PARK
Location: 1000 East Beltline Avenue NE, in the suburbs of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The huge, impressive Japanese garden at Meijer Gardens.
Overview: This was going to be the Michigan Botanical Garden before Frederik and Lena Meijer (Meijer grocery chain) donated 70 acres of land and their entire world-class sculpture collection. Opened in 1995, this combination outdoor sculpture museum and botanical garden covers 158 acres and has quickly become a heralded destination… deservedly so.
Highlights: The 8-acre Japanese garden built in and around a huge pond became an instant signature when it opened in 2015. It’s spectacular with bridges, a teahouse, statuary, intricately pruned plants and untold tons of boulders. The 170 sculptures are huge, varied and alone would make this a major attraction. Also has Michigan’s largest tropical glasshouse (5 stories tall), an action-packed, 5-acre Children’s Garden with a water-feature map of Michigan, an English perennial and bulb garden, a shade garden, a 3-acre section devoted to Michigan farming, and nature trails with a wetland.
George’s Take: That Japanese garden is incredible… especially spectacular seen from the landscaped knoll that’s part of the garden. This whole place is still under-known and under-appreciated outside the immediate area, and in my opinion, ranks up there with the country’s best. Very well done! Pair it with a visit to Holland, Michigan’s annual Tulip Festival in May.
Contact info: www.meijergardens.org 888-957-1580
INDIANAPOLIS MUSEUM OF ART
Location: 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, Ind.
Archways in the formal gardens at Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Overview: It’s primarily a large art museum with more than 54,000 works by African, American, Asian and European artists, but it’s also one of the nicest landscaped cultural attractions that’s not first and foremost a garden. The campus is 152 acres. Spend a day and see it all – inside and out.
Highlights: Two main draws for the garden geek here. One is the 26-acre Oldfields area with its restored 22-room mansion and formal landscape designed by Percival Gallagher of the famed Olmsted Brother firm. It harkens to the 1930s. The other outdoor attraction is what’s billed as an “art and nature park.” Known as “100 Acres,” it includes woodlands, wetlands, open grassy meadows, a lake and trails that showcase sculpture and temporary commissioned installations.
George’s Take: I was in town for a conference and otherwise would’ve had no idea of the scope of the gardens and plantings around this museum. It might be called the Indianapolis Art Museum, but it qualifies equally as arboretum and/or public garden. A double jackpot if you like both art and plants.
Contact info: www.imamuseum.org 317-923-1331
INDIANAPOLIS ZOO WHITE RIVER GARDENS
Location: 1200 W. Washington St., in the city of Indianapolis, Ind.
DeHaan Tiergarten formal gardens at White River Gardens.
Overview: The Indianapolis Zoo features 3 acres of garden attractions, including a conservatory as well as a collection of outdoor gardens.
Highlights: The centerpiece is the Hilbert Conservatory, which is a 5,000-square-foot glasshouse with tropical plants and seasonal plant attractions. The Family Nature Center section outside features tie-ins to wildlife and the habitat that supports them, while the DeHaan Tiergarten is the main collection of gardens – some formal, some looser and more colorful.
George’s Take: It’s not a big place, but quality-wise, this is one of the nicest set of gardens I’ve seen connected to a zoo. Especially well done are the water features. I liked the structures (walls, trellises, fun statuary, etc.), lily pads and formal gardens best here.
Contact info: www.indianapoliszoo.com 317-630-2001
INNISWOOD METRO GARDENS
Location: 940 S. Hempstead Road, in the suburbs of Westerville, Ohio, 20 minutes northeast of Columbus.
A gazebo focal point in Inniswood’s herb garden.
Overview: 121 acres of nature and gardens connected by winding trails lead through this county-owned park and preserve. Once a 37-acre estate owned by garden-loving sisters Grace and Mary Innis, the sisters donated their house, land and gardens in 1972 to Franklin County, which has honored the gift by improving it and maintaining it far better than often happens with park gifts to governments.
Highlights: A nice mix of nature and gardens. You can walk trails through the woods and tree groves, or you can get your “plant fix” in the rose garden, the herb garden, the rock garden with a beautiful stream running through it, and the flower gardens. A nearly 3-acre Sisters Garden pays tribute to the Innis sisters. There’s also ample open lawn space. No admission charge.
George’s Take: I was heartened to see the government investing the resources to make this such a worthy garden destination – not to mention the private gifts that support it and the volunteer efforts of the Inniswood Garden Society. A true community effort. Inniswood has 2,000 plant species in all… not bad for a county park. This is an underrated place and way better than I expected the first time I saw it. It was well maintained, too, both times I’ve been there. Several more pictures of Inniswood are in my Photo Gallery of a 2013 trip to Ohio gardens.
Contact info: www.inniswood.org 614-895-6216
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
Location: 4344 Shaw Boulevard in the heart of St. Louis, Missouri.
The Children’s Village at Missouri Botanical Garden.
Overview: 79 acres of diverse and non-stop beauty. Dates to 1859 and is the nation’s oldest continuously operating public botanical garden (or so they claim).
Highlights: Jaw-droppers everywhere… the largest Japanese strolling garden in the western hemisphere (14 acres alone), Victorian gardens with geometric flower and knot gardens, a 2-acre children’s garden with wetlands and a prairie village, a highly idea-inspiring Kemper Center with 23 home demonstration gardens, a signature half-acre “Climatron” conservatory with 1,200 species inside the world’s first geodesic dome greenhouse, a 6-million-specimen herbarium, a fully staffed Q&A center for home gardeners, a rose garden, a Chinese garden, rare orchids and more.
George’s Take: I loved this place. It’s not in the greatest neighborhood, but you’d never know it once inside. The whole Kemper Center is brilliant. Ideas, education, beauty, plant diversity, fun for the kids… Mobot has it all. I’d have to say it’s in my top three public gardens, up there with Longwood and New York Botanical Garden.
Contact info: www.mobot.org. 1-800-642-8842. (Web site has super Plant Finder plant database, too.)