County
Connection-
Advice from the Heartland
|
County
Connection-
Advice from the Heartland |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|||||||
|
News Release -
Marion County You Don't Have to Travel Far to Beautiful Gardens You can grow as a gardener by visiting public gardens.
They can be a great source of education and inspiration as well as enjoyment.
And you don't have to travel very far to visit some great botanical gardens
and arboretums. Start here in the city of Indianapolis. If you do not regularly visit places like the Indianapolis Museum of Art, White River Gardens and Garfield Park Conservatory, you are missing out on a lot. Then go outside our state to visit one of the following three Midwest gardens. All are a relatively short distance by car. The Missouri Botanical Garden was established in 1859 and is just minutes from downtown St. Louis. There is beauty in spring, summer and fall. There are 79 acres with a great variety of specialty gardens including a Biblical garden, rose garden , herb garden, rock garden, fragrance garden, maze garden, Japanese garden, Chinese garden, English woodland garden and the water lily ponds, as well as specialty plant collections of dwarf conifers, iris and daylilies. The Missouri Botanical Garden has the largest traditional Japanese Garden in North America, covering 14 acres and including a 4.5-acre lake surrounded by expansive lawns and a meandering path. The Climatron conservatory is a geodesic dome 70 feet high and 175 feet in diameter. It has a ground surface of more than half an acre and houses about 1,200 species of plants in a natural, tropical setting. The Kemper Center for Home Gardening is an 8.5-acre educational center with a 8,000-square foot pavilion and 23 demonstration gardens filled with ideas for home gardeners. The 385-acre Chicago Botanic Garden was established in 1972 and is about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago. It is worth visiting in spring, summer and fall. Wheelchair-accessible tram tours depart from the visitor center and provide a 45-minute narrated overview of the entire garden. The Chicago Botanic Garden has 23 different gardens, 81 acres of waterways, 9 islands, 6 miles of shoreline, 15 acres of prairie, 100 acres of woods and greenhouses. Gardens include the : aquatic garden, bulb garden, children's garden, dwarf conifers garden, enabling garden, English oak meadow, heritage garden, landscape garden, Japanese garden, McDonald woods, naturalistic garden, prairie garden, rose garden, sensory garden, Spider Island, and waterfall garden. There are more than 1.7 million plants including 8,950 trees; 48,086 shrubs; 103,730 ground covers; 12,728 vines; 664,494 bulbs; 904,053 perennials; 1,351 annuals and 14,917 aquatics. The Morton Arboretum is a 1,700-acre garden about 25 miles west of Chicago. It specializes in the display and study of trees, shrubs and vines is perhaps most spectacular in spring and fall, but tree and shrub lovers will appreciate the arboretum year round. The arboretum was formally established in 1922, and it comprises more than 41,000 plants representing 3,300 different types of plants from around the world. You can experience landscapes and vistas from your car via 11 miles of paved roads and on foot over 12 miles of trails. One-hour tours are available via open-air tram. The landscaping and gardening collections at The Morton Arboretum include a two-acre Hedge Garden with 30 sheared hedges, and 28 natural hedges and a ground cover garden with nearly 500 different ground-cover plants. The collections also feature dwarf woody plants, a wild garden, a fragrance garden, and a "four seasons garden" for plants with multi-seasonal attraction. There are also many taxonomic collections showing the botanical relationships of plants. For example, the Elm Family (Ulmaceae) collection has nearly 200 trees and is one of the largest and most diverse of its kind in the world. Steve Mayer is Extension Educator-Horticulture with Purdue Extension-Marion County. He coordinates the Master Gardener program in Marion County. To contact a Master Gardener, call (317) 275-9292, or e-mail: master.gardener@extension.purdue.edu
|
 |
 |
|
|
At a Glance:
Questions:
|
 |
|
 
Garden Flowers
Fruits & Vegetables
Lawn Care
Landscape Plants
Insects, Pests, & Diseases
Indoor Plants
The information contained in this web site
is specific to the state of Indiana and may not apply in other states.
|
