Hot Springs, AR Part IV: Garvan Woodland Gardens
Hot Springs, AR
Margery's research into things to do in Hot Springs turned up Garvan Woodland Gardens. After somewhat of a disappointment with only some of the roses blooming at the American Rose Center woodland gardens in Shreveport, Paul wasn't too enthusiastic about another woodland garden. However, Margery had a feeling the garden would be nice, so Paul went along with the idea. He's glad he did because she was right.
Garvan Woodland Gardens are located to the south of Hot Springs on a peninsula sticking out into Lake Hamilton. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, we were greeted by a big bed of lilies in full bloom. Things were looking up.
We stopped for a photo with some ageratum by the walkway leading to the entrance.
The land where the gardens are located was purchased in the 1920s by Arthur Cook, a local business man, to harvest the timber that was growing there. The property was turned into a large peninsula in 1932 when the Ouachita (pronounced WASH-it-ah) River was dammed to form Lake Hamilton.
Cook's youngest daughter, Verna, who later married Patrick Garvan, inherited the property and was inspired to become an avid gardener and conservationist. She developed her personal gardens on the property for over 30 years.
After her husband's death in the 1970s, Mrs. Garvan decided her gardens should be shared with the public. She and an assistant built an extensive garden infrastructure and planted thousands of plants, trees and shrubs.
In 1985, Mrs. Garvan signed an agreement with the University of Arkansas whereby she would retain control of the garden until her death, then bequeath the land to the University which would maintain and continue to develop the garden for the benefit of the public. The university took over the garden when Verna Cook Garvan died in 1993.
We paid our admission fees (with both a $1 discount coupon from a tourist magazine we picked up at the Hot Springs Visitor Center and a $1 senior discount), got a map and headed off into the garden. Paul liked the unusual design of this garden bench that was right at the start of the main path.
The garden has an extensive bonsai collection, which is nicely displayed a short distance inside the garden. The photo below shows just a small portion of that collection. The second tree from the left is a dawn redwood that is a miniature of one of the giants that grow along the northern California coast.
Garvan Gardens has lavish displays of tulips in the spring. Since the tulips were obviously long gone by the time we were there, Paul was afraid there wouldn't many flowers blooming. He was encouraged by the bed of lilies out by the parking lot, and we was further encouraged by some intense blue hydrangeas a short distance down the path from the bonsai display.
Those first hydrangeas were soon followed by more.
An interesting thing about hydrangea macrophylla (big leaf hydrangea) is the color can be influenced by soil conditions. In the photo above, you can see hydrangeas in blue, pink and white. The white ones will always be white (or at least mostly white - sometimes the flowers will be lightly tinged with pink), but the colored ones can be pink, blue or any shade in between.
To make blue flowers, the hydrangeas need an abundance of aluminum in the soil. Aluminum can be added to the soil in the form of aluminum sulphate. To make the aluminum available to the plant, the soil pH must be on the acid side (around 5.2 to 5.5). Aluminum sulphate automatically lowers the pH of the soil; but adding organic matter such as peat moss will lower the pH further if necessary.
To make pink flowers, the plants should not be allowed to take up aluminum either by keeping it away from the plants altogether, or if the soil naturally contains aluminum (which is often the case), by adding ground limestone periodically to keep the pH around 6.0 to 6.2 to make aluminum unavailable to the plants. Hydrangea color can be controlled most easily in potted plants, but it can also be done with plants growing right in the soil the way Garvan Gardens does.
There are numerous ponds and pools in the gardens. This one was particularly beautiful with just a touch of color added by a few late-blooming azaleas.
Some of the ponds have large, colorful koi. They all come swimming over looking for a handout when they see the shadows of people moving on the shore above.
Garvan Gardens has used the natural slope of the hillside to maximum advantage. Picturesque cascades tumble down over well-placed rocks to connect the ponds and pools.
The cascade in the photo above was lined with gardenias. This was a different variety that we were not familiar with called 'Prostrata' that had leaves that were more slender than what we were used to seeing. The flowers, however, still had the familiar intoxicating gardenia scent.
A picturesque stone moon bridge in the background of the next photo crossed yet another stream.
The structure of the garden (the paths, the cascades and waterfalls, the ponds and pools, the placement of rocks and plants) was so well done that Paul finally had to admit this garden would be worth seeing even if nothing at all was in bloom. But he shouldn't have worried about nothing being in bloom. In addition to late azaleas, hydrangeas, and gardenias, they had almost finished planting their summer annuals. There were large swaths of color like these impatiens, coleus and begonias along many of the paths.
A patch of orange zinnias and lilies are accented by the deep purple leaves of what Paul thought was an ornamental pepper. The leaves look like a variety we had seen before called 'Black Pearl,' but it was too early in the season for the peppers to have formed so he wasn't sure.
At the far end of the peninsula there are nice views of Lake Hamilton with wildflowers in the foreground.
When we were almost back to the exit, we came across this box turtle right on the walkway. He started to pull his head in when he saw us, but hesitated long enough for a photo.
Garvan Gardens also has a children's discovery garden and a natural area that is a bird sanctuary. It was getting very hot and humid, so we skipped those areas. We did, however, walk to the far end of the parking lot to check out the Anthony Chapel.
The chapel was completed in 2006 from native wood and 9,860 square feet of glass. It is a popular location for weddings, and there is a bride's hall and groom's quarters adjacent to the chapel. The design makes you feel you are sitting among the trees with their branches interwoven overhead.
Adjacent to the chapel is the Anthony Carillon...
...with an interesting view from underneath.
Garvan Gardens far exceeded our expectations. It was one of those gems we will likely visit again if we come back to this area.
We will be moving on to our next destination soon. We'll tell you where we ended up in our next post.
