Discover The Gardens
Twenty-four Botanical Gardens exist today in Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park. Volunteers from the Friends of the Garden ensure the enduring beauty of these gardens and the Botanical Center.
The Master Plan
The 45 botanical gardens called for in the project’s 20-year master plan will surround the Botanical Center, allowing visitors to see firsthand many hundreds of plants that thrive in our region and making possible onsite demonstrations in garden design, planting, pruning, mulching, and maintenance. Its arboretum will contain all of Missouri’s native trees, clearly labeled for easy identification.
(Please note that as the website is under development, there are still a number of gardens which are without feature articles.)
Azalea Garden
This garden site was selected for the high shade canopy created by the old hackberry trees and was designed and donated by local nursery owners Dow and Linda Whiting of Garden Adventures in Nixa. To create ideal azalea conditions in the Ozarks, azaleas were planted in raised berms with added mulch and organic matter. This garden is still under development, with hardscape coming from a generous donation by Ruth Arneson and a bridge created by Bob Childress.
The Butterfly Garden
The whimsical bronze Butterfly Girl created by sculptor James Hall holds forth amid colorful flowering beds and the plants inside the Bill Roston Butterfly House attract the popular winged insects as well as children and adults of all ages. Look for the innovative butterflyshaped floral mascot garden, nicknamed “Windrider.”
See also: Bill Roston Butterfly House
The Columbine Garden
Grouped by color and chosen to emphasize the plant’s delicacy of bloom, the 14 varieties of columbines in this garden are a joy to see.
The Daylily Garden
Ease of care and breathtaking spectrum of colors, hues, and color patterns make daylilies a big American favorite, and this garden displays over 5,000 plants in more than a thousand varieties.
The Daylily Garden is maintained by members of the Ozarks Daylily Club. Visit their website for more information:
http://ozarkdaylily.org/
The Dogwood Garden
An early sign of an Ozarks spring, dogwood trees blossom in pink or white in 18 different varieties, including some new Stellar hybrids.
The Dwarf Conifer Garden
View and admire an extensive collection of dwarf conifers in a wide range of color, shape, texture and size on the east side of Lake Drummond. Terraced in multiple beds, this evergreen family of cone-bearing shrubs is enhanced with meandering paths, a bridge, waterfall and rock out-croppings.
The English Garden
The quintessential English Garden— a classic stone wall, meandering path, statue, and heavenly mix of spikes, mounds, and foliage--provides color and form from March to November.
The Entrance Garden
A cheery array of rose hybrids in various colors welcomes visitors to Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park and Arboretum. These landmark hybrids are beloved for their mix of beauty and unprecedented ease of care.
Federated Garden Club Gardens
This colorful garden of annuals and perennials is planted and maintained by Brentwood Estates, Cherry Court and Ever Green Clubs and Hillbilly Gardeners.
Flowering Shrub Garden
This garden displays more than 200 varieties of lilacs, hydrangeas, weigela, and other beautiful flowering shrubs, grouped by species and providing visual interest even in winter.
Garden Questionnaire Series
This series of articles answers many of the most common questions about several of the gardens.
The Heritage Garden
Located in the park’s historic Gray- Campbell Farmstead, this garden in development features annuals, perennials, and vegetables grown in the gardens of the 1860’s.
The Hosta Garden
More than 300 hosta varieties, planted and maintained by the Greater Ozarks Hosta Society, showcase the diversity of size, leaf color and variegation of this popular perennial foliage plant.
The Hosta Garden is maintained by members of the Greater Ozarks Hosta Society. You can find out more about them at their website: http://www.gohs.org/
The Iris Garden
Nearly 500 irises in some 200 varieties of the Tall Bearded, Siberian, Japanese, and Louisiana types make this garden one of the park’s most colorful in May and June.
The Lily Garden
Hundreds of Asiatic, Oriental and Trumpet lilies feature brilliant colors and unique fragrances. The low-maintenance, diseaseresistant beauties are excellent for home garden use.
Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens
This lively, colorful garden of perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees, vegetables, herbs and ornamental grasses is a perfect place to learn about many plants that thrive in the Ozarks.
Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden
This classic Japanese garden on 7 1/2 acres treats visitors to beautiful and serene winding paths, meditation and water gardens, a tea house, a moon bridge, a pagoda, and more.
Kickapoo Edge Prairie
This native prairie garden was started with 30 wildflower and 6 grass species. We are adding species constantly. Plans are to add rose verbena, purple coneflower, obedient plant, beard tongue, purple milkweed, common milkweed and prairie coreopsis among others. Learn more about the plant of the Kickapoo Edge Prairie.
The Native Shrub Garden
Seventy-five of Missouri's most striking native shrubs feature plants that can be used effectively in residential gardens and landscapes.
Ornamental Grass Garden
This unique garden contains 200 perennial and annual ornamental grasses in 75 varieties to show the many sizes, leaf colors, variegations, and blooms they can bring to the landscape.
The Peony Garden
Favorites for generations of gardeners, peonies are cherished for both color and fragrance. This garden, which peaks in May, exhibits 50 of the most beautiful peony varieties, old and new.
The Redbud Garden
This garden is dedicated to one of Missouri’s most beautiful flowering trees. It currently showcases more than 27 varieties of redbuds and their diversity in foliage, shape, size, and flower. Funding for the redbud trees was provided by the Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri.
The Rose Garden
Created in 2001 as the first garden in Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park and Arboretum, the Rose Garden exhibits 160 hybrid tea, grandiflora, floribunda, and shrub roses, all grouped by color in raised beds ringed in stone.
The Sensory Garden
Coming soon, a symphony of sound and sensation for everyone, but with special appeal to the physically and visually disabled. The raised beds and Braillelabeled garden will be designed to stimulate the senses. . .plants of different textures to the touch, plants that hum in the wind, plants that are fragrant and beautiful.
The Viburnum Garden
Viburnums star in the garden and landscape for outstanding foliage, flowers, and berries, and some are also fragrant. This garden displays 150 varieties chosen to provide season-long appeal.
What's in Bloom
A feature to describe what's currently blooming in the gardens.
The White Garden
Inspired by the famed garden of Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst Castle in England, the White Garden is a symphony of annuals, perennials, and shrubs with blossoms all in white.
The White Garden is maintained by members of the Pink Dogwood Garden Club.
The Wildflower Garden
Ozarkers enjoy their wildflowers and this garden displays 45 of the best loved, recently expanded to include more species, both sun- and shade-loving.
The Woodland Garden
Azaleas, a redbud tree, groundcovers, and a rock wall planted with annuals form this beautiful woodland setting, providing continuous color in both sun and shade.
The Guide by Cell self guided tour is a unique way to explore the gardens at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park. The tour is set up for you to use your cell phone to learn about the gardens in more complete detail. Using your cell phone dial 417.213.3016, when you are prompted enter the garden prompt number followed by the # sign. Listen to instructions on how to continue your phone tour of other gardens without having to redial the main number. If you use your cell phone the service is free except for your per minute change.
The real value to this service is you can use it while you tour the gardens at the park or you can tour the gardens by cell phone from the comfort of your home. Try it you will like it!
Tribute gifts are an excellent way to honor a friend, colleague, loved one, to mark a special occasion – celebrate a birthday, an anniversary, an engagement or wedding, a graduation, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, a holiday, a special memory, or simply to say thank you – while supporting the mission of Friends of the Garden.
The Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center
2400 S. Scenic Ave
Springfield, MO 65807
417.891.1515
Botanical Center & Gardens Brochure (782.17 kB) Park Bench Winter 2011-2012 (3.32 MB)The Friends of the Garden mission is to "inspire the discovery, understanding and appreciation of nature by creating and maintaining gardens at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park and by supporting the mission of the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center and Park Board."
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