Did You Know There Is a Botanical Garden in Our Area?

May 05, 2011

Powell Gardens is a 915 acre botanical garden, featuring over 6,000 varieties of plants, with 225,000 plants in seasonal displays. It is open to the public for a fee during daylight hours.

There are several different areas of the gardens, including the Rock & Waterfall Garden where you will find azaleas and rhododendrons, ferns, bleeding hearts, hostas, astilbes, giant butterburs and spring bulbs. An Island Garden includes over 200 varieties of water plants in a beautiful setting. The Perennial Garden is beautiful with more than 1,200 varieties, including daylilies, daffodils, hibiscus, and hardy asters and chrysanthemums with ornamental grasses against an evergreen background. The Heartland Harvest Garden features popular fruits and vegetables and showcases “the journey of food from seed to plate.” A French country style kitchen garden, greenhouses, a vineyard of native and European grapes, a Quilt Garden of local farm produce, and a youth educational garden called the Fun Foods Farm are wonderful features of this 12-acre garden. A walk to the magnificent Chapel is full of native oak-hickory, wildflowers, and a beautiful collection of many varieties of redbud trees. At the Fountain Garden is a centerpiece interactive fountain where kids (and kids at heart) can dip in a finger or toe, or just jump in all together! There are seating areas with views to the lake and Meadow Pavilion. Also, there is the 3 mile Byron Shutz Nature Trail where you will enjoy a walk surrounded by many native and naturalized trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers, including biscuitroot, prairie-plum and draba.

There is a tram available for those desiring a quicker route between garden areas.

In the Conservatory, you will find a beautiful display of season orchids, tropical plants, chrysanthemums and poinsettias. Take the Dogwood Walk to see nearly every variety of dogwood, including flowering dogwood, hybrid dogwood and Kousa dogwood, along with roses and magnolias.

At the Missouri Barn, you can rest and get a bite to eat or a cold drink, as well as shop at Good Earth Gifts. Be sure to check out the adjoining 45-foot silo where you can take in a birds-eye view of the gardens!

Even the entrance drive, garden gatehouse, and parking lot are gorgeously alive with seasonal annuals, evergreen weeping white pines, native oak groves, ornamental plants and grasses, and plenty of native prairie wildflowers and grasses.

From May 1st – Aug. 14th, Powell Gardens invites you to journey back to the prehistoric world when more than 20 dinosaurs and oversized ancient insects return to the gardens.

Check out Powell Gardens online at http://www.powellgardens.org for more details on admission prices, hours, classes, and seasonal activities.

Susan D.
Lone Jack Branch