Arkansas Gardens

Botanical Garden Society of the Ozarks, Inc.: 4703 N. Crossover Road (Highway 265), Fayetteville, AR 72702 (479)750-2620.

• The Society is working to establish a botanical garden near Lake Fayetteville. A wildflower meadow was planted in 1998.

Blue Spring Heritage Center Gardens: Scenic Highway 62 West (5 miles west of Eureka Springs), P O Box 362, Eureka Springs, AR 72632 (479) 253-9244.

• Located 5 miles west of the Victorian village of Eureka Springs, this gorgeous botanical garden, surrounding a deep natural spring, features 33 acres of lovely woodland, meadow, hillside and rock settings.

Compton Gardens: 312 N. Main Street, Bentonville, AR 72712, (479) 254-3870.

• Compton Gardens showcases 6.5 acres of native woodland plants, walking trails and prairie at the former home of Dr. Compton, a noted physician, writer, photographer, founding member of the Ozark Society and "savior of the Buffalo River".

Fort Smith Officer's Wives Garden: Parker Ave., 4. Text3 = Fort Smith, AR 72901 (479)783-3961

• The Fort Smith National Historic Site boasts a National Award winning re-creation of a 1860's Officer's Wives Garden showcasing 1860s plants and seeds along with 1860s gardening techinques.  Youth participants from Girls Incorprated ranging from age 5 to 14 work in the garden weekly while wearing the period dresses that children would have wore during that time period.  Gardens include vegetables, flowers, herbs and a mini-orchard.

Garvan Woodland Gardens: 550 Arkridge Road, Hot Springs National Park, AR 71913 (501)262-9300 or (800)366-4664).

• Verna Cook Garvan insisted that the woodlands, purchased for its timber, not be cleared. Instead, she planted hundreds of rare shrubs and trees, including camellias, magnolias and over 100 different kinds of azaleas. The Border of Old Roses, a Japanese garden (with Japanese maples and tree peonies), rock gardens, a conifer border, and perennials and bulbs, enhance this remarkable setting. Visitors arrive aboard the Belle of Hot Springs, a restored riverboat, across Lake Hamilton. The gardens are now owned by the University of Arkansas.

Historic Arkansas Museum: 200 East Third Street, Little Rock, AR 72201 (501)324-9351.

• Five historic structures including Arkansas' oldest building, the Hinterleiter Grog Shop, make up this restoration of Arkansas frontier days. Outside the Woodruff Printshop, a medicinal herb garden, maintained by the Arkansas Chapter of the Herb Society of America, features native and imported plants used by settlers and native Americans for healing.

Little Rock Zoological Garden: #1 Jonesboro Drive, Little Rock, AR 72205 (501)666-2406.

• Lions and tigers and bear, oh my! Plus gorillas, rhinos, and giraffes, and over 500 more wild and exotic species, all living in a 40 acre park-like landscape.

Mountain Valley Spring Water Company: 150 Central Avenue, Hot Springs National Park, AR 71901 (501)623-6671 or (800)643-1501.

• A beautifully restored historic building houses the water company's headquarters in Hot Springs National Park. Hydroponic gardens demonstrate the ability to grow plants in the company's natural spring water without soil.

Peel House Museum and Historical Garden: 400 S. Walton Boulevard, Bentonville, AR 72712 (479)273-9664.

• The grounds of this 1875 Italianate Mansion are graced with vignette gardens that serve as an outdoor museum of historic roses, perennials and native plants.

South Arkansas Arboretum: 501 Timberlane (Mount Holly Road and Timberlane (adjacent to El Dorado High School), El Dorado, AR 71731-7010 (870)862-8131 x144.

• The South Arkansas Community College operates this 13 acre Arboretum which showcases plants indigenous to Arkansas's Gulf Coastal Plain region and exotic species, including flowering azaleas and camellias.

State Capitol Rose Garden: Arkansas State Capitol, Little Rock, AR 72201

• The lovely grounds of the capitol building contain two rose gardens including an All-America Rose Selections accredited rose garden and display over 1,500 rose bushes.