Wisconsin Gardens

 Allen Centennial Gardens: University of Wisconsin, 620 Babcock Drive, Madison, WI 53706 (608)262-8406.

This 2.5 acre garden surrounding a Victorian Gothic home displays over 20 lovely garden, including the Victorian Garden, Wetland Garden, Water Garden, Iris Garden, French Garden, Groundcover Garden, Pergola Vine Display, Exotic Shrub Garden, Annual Garden, Hillside Garden, Dwarf Conifer Garden, New American Garden, Daylily Collection, Lawn Garden, Small Fruit Garden, Herb Garden, Edible Garden, Viburnum Garden, Wisconsin Wildflower Garden, English Perennial Garden, and Rock Garden,

 Boerner Botanical Gardens: Whitnall Park, 9400 Boerner Drive, Hales Corners, WI 53130 (414)525-5600.

This 1,000 acre park features an extensive and stunning botanical garden. Gardens include the Annual Garden (a walled garden with statuary), the Daylily Walk, the Herb Garden (12 formal herb beds with over 300 varieties of herbs and 7000 plants), the Peony Garden, the Perennial Borders, the Rock Garden (a woodland grotto with native wildflowers and waterfalls), the Bog Garden, the formal Rose Garden (with a stone and wood arbor, pools and 3000 plants of 350 varieties), the Shrub Mall (a long grassy mall surrounded by borders of shrubs interspersed with annuals and perennials), the Trial Garden (including an All-America Rose Selections Test Garden and All-America Selections Flower Trials Garden). The arboretum displays mature native and exotic trees, plus collections of crabapples (1000 trees of 250 species and varieties), lilacs (250 specimens), and nut trees.

 Botany Greenhouse: University of Wisconsin, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1381 (608)262-2235 - Director or (608)263-2400 - Campus Assistance Center .

This 8 room 8,000 square foot greenhouse displays more than 1,000 species of aquatic, desert and tropical plants.

 Capitol Grounds: Madison, WI (608)266-1485.

This uniquely situated capitol building, located on isthmus bordered by two lakes, features formal grounds with garden beds.

 Cofrin Memorial Arboretum: University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, WI 54311 (920)465-2277.

This 290 acre arboretum encircles the campus.

 Consolidated Papers Forest: Leith Road, 1825 US Highway 8, Rhinelander, WI 54501-7760 (715)487-5266.

This industrial forest with labeled posts may be viewed on a 16 mile auto tour. A booklet available at the company's timberlands offices in Rhinelander and Monico describes each post.

 Doty Cabin: 701 Lincoln Street (at 5th Street), Neenah, WI 54956 (920)751-4614.

This cabin is a replica home of Wisconsin territorial governor Duane Doty.

 Executive Residence: 99 Cambridge Road, Madison, WI 53704 (608)266-1485.

This Southern Classical Revival home to the Wisconsin Governors features formal grounds.

 Foxfire Botanical Gardens: M220 Sugarbush Lane (west of County Highway E), Marshfield, WI 54449 (715)387-3050.

These naturalistic-style grounds demonstrate influences from both eastern and western landscapes.

 Green Bay Botanical Garden: 2600 Larsen Road, P.O. Box 12644, Green Bay , WI 54307-2644 (920)490-9457 or (877)355-4224.

Visitors enter this garden through a Four Seasons Garden, then go on to an American Perennial Garden, an English Cottage Garden, two Rose Gardens, an Orchard Remnant, a Color and Foliage Garden, a Children's Garden, a Daylily Repository, a Woodland Garden and a Magnolia Collection.  Structures include a fountain, a Scandinavian summerhouse, a Grecian gazebo, and a wellhouse.  A charming sculpture depicts a devoted husband playing the violin for his wife.

 Greenhouses at the University of Wisconsin: 5th Floor, Phillips Hall, Eau Claire, WI (715)836-3523.

Three greenhouses (3500 square feet) display an interesting variety of vegetation including desert and tropical rainforest areas and collections of orchids, cacti, bromeliads, scented geraniums, aquatic plants and economic plants.

 (Charles A.) Grignon Mansion: 1313 Augustine Street, P.O. Box 247, Kaukauna, WI 54130 (920)735-9370 x104.

This 1837 mansion, built by a fur trader, features costumed guides and historic apple orchard, herb and vegetable gardens.

 Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary & Arboretum: 880 Green Bay Road (Highway 31), Kenosha, WI 53144 (262)552-8196.

This private nature sanctuary includes a 12-acre arboretum, three historic buildings and 2 1/2 miles of nature trails winding through the woods and prairies of the Pike River Valley.

 Hixon House: 429 North 7th Street, La Crosse, WI 54602 (608)782-9080.

This Italianate mansion formerly belonging to a lumber baron features 19th century gardens.

 Jung Garden Center: 335 South High Street, Hwy 73, Randolph, WI 53956 (920)326-5672.

This commercial seed company operates five garden centers in Wisconsin. Randolph is where the company was founded.

 Kneeland-Walker House and Victorian Gardens: 7406 Hillcrest Drive, Wauwatosa, WI (414)774-TOSA(8672).

This rambling Queen Anne mansion is headquarters of the Wauwatosa Historical Society. Its grounds feature garden beds and plantings emphasizing native plants, cultivated stock, and plantings special to Wauwatosa.

 Lakeside Park: 555 N. Park Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI.

On the shores a Lake Winnebago, this beautiful 400 acre park features a picturesque lighthouse, a petting zoo, a gazebo, a carousel and colorful floral displays.

 Lincoln Flower Gardens: Lincoln Park, 7010 22nd Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53140 (262)653-4050.

This 44 acre park features a sunken garden with over 50 varieties of annuals.

 Maywood Environmental Park (Ellwood H. May Environmental Park): 3615 Mueller Road, Sheboygan, WI 53083 (920)459-3906.

This 135 acre environmental park includes habitats of prairie, maple and evergreen forests, wetlands, Pigeon River, and wildlife ponds. Seasonal wildflowers are displayed.

 Memorial Park Arboretum & Gardens/Scheig Learning Center: Appleton Memorial Park, 1313 E. Witzke Blvd., Appleton, WI 54911 (920)993-1900.

This city park offers an arboretum and gardens, including a Fragrance and Wildflower Garden.

 Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory (The Domes): 524 S. Layton Boulevard, Milwaukee , WI 53215 (414)649-9800.

The three large greenhouse beehive shaped domes (85' high) each contain a different display -- tropical, desert, and floral. The Arid dome features cacti, succulents, shrubs and arid-land bulbs from deserts of Africa, Madagascar, South America and North America. The Tropical Dome displays flowers, fruits, nuts, spices and a multitude of orchids and bromeliads from tropical rainforests complete with a waterfall, birds and iguanas. The Floral Show Dome offers seasonal floral displays.

 Norskedalen Nature and Heritage Center: County Highway PI (3 miles north of Coon Valley), Box 225, Coon Valley, WI 54623 (608)452-3424.

Operated by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, this nature and heritage center offers a pioneer Norwegian log farmstead, 400 acres of woodland with an arboretum and trails, and a modern visitors center with a library and exhibits.

 Olbrich Botanical Gardens: 3330 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI 53704 (608)246-4550.

This botanical garden on the shores of Lake Monona features 16 acres of display garden, including the Sunken Garden, the Hosta Garden (140 cultivars), the Perennial Garden (a 2 acre garden with a waterfall, a stream and a series of pools planted with aquatic plants), the Dahlia Garden, the Iris Garden (150 cultivars), the Rose Garden (650 plants of 100 cultivars), the Shade Garden, the Rock Garden (alpine plants and dwarf conifers), the Herb Garden (individual gardens including courtyard, knot, medicinal, dye, kitchen, and touch and smell gardens), a grape arbor, topiary, and the Wildflower Garden plus a pyramid-shaped tropical conservatory with exotic plants and flowers, a waterfall, orchids and free-flying birds.

 Old World Wisconsin: S103 W37890 Highway 67, Eagle , WI 53119 (262)594-6300.

Sponsored by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, this 65 building living history museum includes 19th century heirloom gardens surrounding restored houses.

 Paine Art Center and Arboretum: 1410 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, WI 54901 (920)235-6903.

This 1920s Tudor Revival built by a lumber baron features a 15 acre arboretum with colorful display gardens, including the Rose Garden, the Formal Garden, the English Garden, the Herb Garden, the White Garden, the Rock Garden, a wildflower area and a prairie restoration.

 Pendarvis: 114 Shake Rag Street, Mineral Point, WI 53565 (608)987-2122.

A Cornish mining settlement of limestone cottages has been preserved and restored, along with gardens resembling those planted by the Cornish immigrants.

 Putnam Park: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Putnam Drive (off Garfield Street), Eau Claire, WI 54702 (715)836-4166.

A river, lowland hardwood forest, prairie, and a mesic forest community can be found in this 230 acre natural area.  It is home to 400 species of plants, 100 species of birds in summer, 23 mammal species, and 6 reptiles, including the prairie skink, have been recorded within the park

 Rock Gardens at Cave of the Mounds: Brigham Farm, 2975 Cave of the Mounds Road, (one mile north U.S. Highways 18 and 151), Blue Mounds, WI 53517 (608)437-3038.

This site showcasing natural limestone caves has been ornamented with rock gardens.

 Rose and Lily Garden: Bridgewater Ave & Jefferson (Highway 124), Chippewa Falls, WI 54729 (715)723-3890.

These lovely gardens display over 500 rose bushes and more than 300 Asiatic, Trumpet and Oriental lilies.

 Rotary Gardens : 1455 Palmer Drive, (Exit 175A off Interstate 90), Janesville, WI 53545 (608)752-3885.

This lovely site, dedicated to international peace and friendship, features 20 acres of gardens including the Equisetum Garden, the Formal Gardens, the American Perennial Gardens, the Arboretum, the English Cottage Garden and the formal Sunken Garden.

 Rudolph Grotto Gardens: 6975 Grotto Avenue, Rudolph, WI 54475.

Father Philip J. Wagner created these gardens as a shrine of Our Lady after visiting the Grotto in Lourdes, France. The Grotto features floral walkways, gardens, folk-art memorials and shrines.

 St. Francis Retreat Center: Operated by the St. Francis Friary 503 S. Browns Lake Drive, Burlington, WI 53105 (414)763-3600.

This 170 acre retreat center offers gardens, statuary and picturesque grottoes in a peaceful setting.

 Storybook Gardens: 1500 Wisconsin Dells Parkway, Highway 12, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965 (608)253-2391.

This children's tourist attraction is enhanced by over 100 flower beds.

 University of Wisconsin Arboretum and Longenecker Gardens: 1207 Seminole Highway, Madison, WI 53711 (608)263-7888.

This 1260 acre arboretum on Lake Wingra offers prairies, oak savanna, oak woods, a pine stand, spruce and fir plantings, mixed hardwood forest, and wetlands. Longenecker Gardens is a 50 acre collection of labeled ornamental shrubs and trees and the Viburnum Garden offers 80 species and varieties of viburnums and 110 species and varieties of Arbor Vitae.

 Upham Mansion: 212 W. Third Street, Marshfield , WI 54449 (715)387-3322.

This gleaming white 1880 Victorian home of a former governor has been restored to Victorian times by the North Wood County Historical Society. The Heritage Rose Garden has thirty historical rose plants, some dating back to the year 200 at the time of the Roman Empire. With its bower-seated walkways, the arbor is compliments the Victorian flavor of the Upham house.

 West of the Lake Gardens: 915 Memorial Drive, Manitowoc, WI 54220 (920)684-8506 or (920)684-6110.

This 6 acre garden, created by a "hopeless case" of a garden enthusiast, display a strong eastern influence with a Rose Garden, a Japanese Garden, a Sunken Garden, a Formal Garden, and more than 900 feet of herbaceous borders.

 Wildwood Park and Zoo: 608 W. 17th Street, Marshfield, WI 54449 (715)486-2056.

This 60 acre zoo is home to 200 animals and birds both native and exotic. Large animals may be viewed in their natural habitat from cars or on trails.