Ohio Arboretum and Flowers

Beth and I made two stops on the way home from a recent visit to Wisconsin. Both are located in Ohio, and offer a chance to get out of the car and walk, while enjoying the outdoors.

The first stop was Wegerzyn Flower Gardens, located on the west side of Dayton, Ohio. The gardens are part of the Five Rivers Metroparks group in and around Dayton. The Wegerzyn Flower Gardens location includes the Formal Gardens, Children’s Discovery Garden, Swamp Forest elevated walkway, hiking trails, and more.

For more information: https://www.metroparks.org/places-to-go/wegerzyn-gardens/

Entering the Formal Gardens area of the Wegerzyn Gardens.

Nice flower display in the Wegerzyn Formal Gardens

Walkway and bench along the Formal Gardens at Wegerzyn Gardens

Wegerzyn Formal Gardens – nice quiet resting spot.

Wegerzyn Formal Gardens – another scenic walkway.

Wegerzyn Formal Gardens – view down center walkway.

Scenic spot with hibiscus blooming by a small pond.

The second stop was at Dawes Arboretum, located near Newark, Ohio just about halfway between Columbus and Zanesville. This 2,000+ acre arboretum has driving routes with pull-offs to park at various points of interest. In addition to the large variety of trees, there is the old Dawes home (Daweswood) and one of the world’s largest hedge writings with “Dawes Arboretum” written over a 2,000-foot clearing with Woodward American Arborvitae hedges – visible from airplanes passing overhead.

For more information: https://dawesarb.org/arboretum-map/

Wikipedia – history of Dawes Arboretum : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Arboretum

“Daweswood” – home of Beman and Bertie Dawes beginning in 1917.

Interesting trellis and lion’s head by the house.

View from “Daweswood” looking out toward the arboretum and an old farm.

Next, we drove through the arboretum enjoying the different areas dedicated to specific trees and plants. One of the highlights was the “Hedge Writing”, a 2,000-foot-long banner spelling out “Dawes Arboretum” with hedges, visible from airplanes passing overhead. This is the observation deck next to the field.

View from the observation deck for the hedge writing. If you look closely, you can make out the “M” at the end of “Dawes Arboretum”.

This Google Earth view shows the hedge writing from an elevation of about 10,000 feet. (Lower center part of photo)
Mr Dawes wanted it to be visible from airplanes passing overhead.

Informational plaque near the hedge writing and arboretum.

The original hedges had grown too large and were replaced in the early 1990s.

We enjoyed both stops. There are many interesting things to see near our homes, and the internet makes it easy to search them out.

We hope you enjoyed the photos and notes.

BACK TO HOME PAGE