Specialty Gardens

The Betty Ott Talking Garden for the Blind is one of few such special-interest gardens in the USA. It uses audio descriptions to guide sight-impaired visitors. Plants here are chosen for their appeal to all the senses. A raised bed invites visitors to touch and smell the plants, and signs give information in both Roman and Braille type.

The Iris Garden is a tribute to iris experts and longtime Greenhouse volunteers, Tony and Dorothy Willott. It features many of the varieties that they bred and grew right in this location. 

Developed during the 1960s, this garden was inspired by traditional Japanese design: it uses plants and materials to suggest a soothing, ancient, and faraway landscape.  Of special interest is the Metasequoia, or Dawn Redwood Tree, grown from one of six seeds brought from Japan. Garden renovation is in Phase 1 Renovation. 

Throughout the summer, the Latin American Garden showcases cacti, succulents, flowering plants, and tropical fruits found in the Latin region of Central and South America.

The Mall is a traditional formal garden with clipped hedges enclosing the manicured grass center. Corner statues represent the four seasons.

A stroll along the winding path of the Peace Garden takes visitors through an old-fashioned gazebo, and rose, herb, and perennial gardens.