Omaha Botanical Gardens
Encyclopedia
Omaha Botanical Gardens (100 acres), officially known as Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha's Botanical Center, are a botanical garden
s and an arboretum
located at 100 Bancroft Street, Omaha, Nebraska
. The gardens are open daily during business hours; an admission fee is charged.
garden. Other early gardens included a shade hosta
garden, herb garden, children's garden, and spring flowering walk.
The arboretum (4 acres) represents seven regional plant communities: prairie
, savanna
h, oak
hickory
forest, maple
linden
forest, farmstead windbreak, marsh, and flood plain river margin.
Since opening, new garden areas have been added each year. The garden also features a parking garden and arrival garden with annual and perennial flowers. The festival garden, with colorful annual plantings and open lawn expanses, is the site of several annual events; the Victorian garden combines characteristics of both English and Victorian gardens; the Song of the Lark Meadow is reminiscent of Nebraska's prairies and is filled with wildflowers and the 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) arboretum and bird sanctuary contains seven regional plant communities and demonstrates how to attract and identify Midwestern birds. In 2003, the woodland trail, which winds through a native hardwood community and features hilltop overlooks, and the Garden in the Glen, a space with a stream, pools and small waterfalls, were dedicated. A rose garden staircase and woodland waterfall were 2004 additions. The Sunpu Castle Gate and Mt. Fuji replica were constructed on the site of the future Japanese garden in 2005, and the tree peony garden and English perennial border were installed in 2006. In 2007, the model railroad garden opened in July with an expansion opening in June 2008. The Garden of Memories will open Spring 2009.
Open since October 2001, the 32000 square feet (2,972.9 m²) visitor and education center includes a 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) floral display hall, an education wing containing two classrooms, and one of the region's only horticultural libraries. Additionally, the visitor center houses the great hall, community room, café, and gift shop. The floral display halls holds three major floral shows per year; the fall chrysanthemum festival, holiday poinsettia show, and spring bulb show. The vaulted glass roof of the center, standing 65 feet (19.8 m) tall, makes it the predominant visible feature from the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 as travelers cross the Missouri River into Nebraska.
Today, a 100 acre (0.404686 km²) site featuring many outdoor garden areas thrives near downtown Omaha. The garden hosted 150,000 visitors in 2008 and currently has more than 7,000 member households and 250 regular volunteers.
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
s and an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
located at 100 Bancroft Street, Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. The gardens are open daily during business hours; an admission fee is charged.
About
The gardens began in 1982, following two years of preliminary planning. Construction started in 1995 on the roseRose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
garden. Other early gardens included a shade hosta
Hosta
Hosta is a genus of about 23–45 species of lily-like plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, native to northeast Asia. They have been placed in their own family, Hostaceae ; like many 'lilioid monocots', they were once classified in the Liliaceae...
garden, herb garden, children's garden, and spring flowering walk.
The arboretum (4 acres) represents seven regional plant communities: prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
, savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
h, oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
hickory
Hickory
Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...
forest, maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
linden
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
forest, farmstead windbreak, marsh, and flood plain river margin.
Since opening, new garden areas have been added each year. The garden also features a parking garden and arrival garden with annual and perennial flowers. The festival garden, with colorful annual plantings and open lawn expanses, is the site of several annual events; the Victorian garden combines characteristics of both English and Victorian gardens; the Song of the Lark Meadow is reminiscent of Nebraska's prairies and is filled with wildflowers and the 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) arboretum and bird sanctuary contains seven regional plant communities and demonstrates how to attract and identify Midwestern birds. In 2003, the woodland trail, which winds through a native hardwood community and features hilltop overlooks, and the Garden in the Glen, a space with a stream, pools and small waterfalls, were dedicated. A rose garden staircase and woodland waterfall were 2004 additions. The Sunpu Castle Gate and Mt. Fuji replica were constructed on the site of the future Japanese garden in 2005, and the tree peony garden and English perennial border were installed in 2006. In 2007, the model railroad garden opened in July with an expansion opening in June 2008. The Garden of Memories will open Spring 2009.
Open since October 2001, the 32000 square feet (2,972.9 m²) visitor and education center includes a 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) floral display hall, an education wing containing two classrooms, and one of the region's only horticultural libraries. Additionally, the visitor center houses the great hall, community room, café, and gift shop. The floral display halls holds three major floral shows per year; the fall chrysanthemum festival, holiday poinsettia show, and spring bulb show. The vaulted glass roof of the center, standing 65 feet (19.8 m) tall, makes it the predominant visible feature from the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 as travelers cross the Missouri River into Nebraska.
Today, a 100 acre (0.404686 km²) site featuring many outdoor garden areas thrives near downtown Omaha. The garden hosted 150,000 visitors in 2008 and currently has more than 7,000 member households and 250 regular volunteers.
See also
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- Lauritzen CorporationLauritzen CorporationLauritzen Corporation is a financial and interstate bank holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Lauritzen Corporation currently has bank branches in Nebraska and Iowa, and has total assets of approximately $17.76 billion . In addition to banks, Lauritzen Corporation has five holding...
- Kenefick ParkKenefick ParkKenefick Park is located at 100 Bancroft Street in South Omaha, Nebraska. Located next to the Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha's botanical gardens, the park features "two of the greatest locomotives ever to power Union Pacific Railroad."-About:...