Winter may be a slower season for some gardens, but not at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden! In January, we launched more than $2 million in renovations to the across our 380-acre property. Our guests over the last few months have gotten to see first hand the work behind our exciting updates and additions! We appreciate the patience of our guests and we look forward to unveiling these projects to you over the next three months as they are completed. Here are some exciting updates:
The Farmhouse Garden Center
The white “farmhouse” with green shutters just off South New Hope Road next to The Trailhead Store was the original Visitor’s Center for DSBG prior to the Garden Pavilion and formal gardens being built. When it was no longer needed as a retail space after the gardens opened, it has served as a variety of administrative offices. Current renovations will return it to a retail space that will be known as The Farmhouse Garden Center. Visitors will find a variety of home garden needs both inside the renovated Farmhouse and in the garden space behind to the building. Peruse plants and seeds to pots and tools along with gardening books, gifts and supplies. The Farmhouse will also offer a variety of classes to the public to help you make your home garden as fantastic as our beautiful Gardens.
Anticipated opening is May 2025.
The Garden Pavilion & Big Leaf Café + Shop
The Garden Pavilion is getting refreshed in several exciting ways. The original carpet is being replaced with new, durable flooring that will brighten the entire space. The front desk has been removed to open up the entry way and provide greater flexibility for events in the space. Plus, the new open space beautifully highlights our stained glass ceiling dome, perfect for stunning wedding receptions. The Garden Pavilion renovation also features a new catering space to make our events even more fantastic and administrative offices to better support our staff.
The biggest project, however, is the renovation of the Garden Store. This space has been completely reimagined and will continue to offer a variety of gifts, plants and other branded souvenir items but will also feature the “Big Leaf Café” with grab-and-go food and drink options, indoor seating for 24 and outdoor seating for 16.
The Garden Pavilion indoor renovations will be complete in late April/early May, with the outdoor renovations of the Big Leaf Café + Shop completed by late May.
Expanded Food Options
We’re excited to offer even more options for a delicious lunch during your visit! The Trailhead Store and Garden Store will be fully stocked with salads, sandwiches, wraps, parfaits and many other convenient grab-and-go items for your picnic lunch, snack break or pre-hike fuel. Our superstar item? The humble PB&J. It’s been described as “life changing.” Try it yourself to see if this bold claim holds up!
The Trailhead Store’s new menu begins Thursday, March 20. The Garden Store’s new menu begins upon its re-opening later this spring.
Garden Renovations
The Cottage and White Gardens are both getting a facelift this off-season. In the White Garden, our most popular wedding location, new pergolas highlight the changes along with new plantings and walkway upgrades. The Cottage Garden transition focuses on creating an authentic, English Cottage Garden vibe while bringing guests closer to many of the plants that abound in the large beds in this garden. The new paths throughout Cottage Garden will also create a more natural experience for guests and allow easy access to the Cottage Bar and Beer Garden that features beautiful views of this renovated garden.
The White Garden renovation will be complete by the end of March and the Cottage Garden renovations are slated for completion in early April.
The Growing Center
The Growing Center is the hub of all of the “back of house” activity at DSBG. This space is where our horticulture staff works and where all of our materials, supplies and equipment is housed. In the Growing Center, our greenhouses are getting some much needed updates to their heating and cooling systems to ensure that our tropicals and other temperature sensitive plants are always in their ideal habitat. We are also renovating our hoop houses, which will allow our staff to propagate more of our own plants for display and sale. New parking and materials storage round out the work going on in the Growing Center.
The Growing Center renovations are scheduled to be complete by the end of May.
New Trails
Nearly two miles of new crushed concrete trails have been added to the property this spring. Outside the Gardens, the Persimmon Trail has been expanded to include a crushed concrete connector trail between the main parking lot and the small pond loop near The Trailhead Store. Inside the garden, the Meadowood Walk has been re-routed to be more sustainable and a new, crushed concrete surface has been put down.
Meadowood Walk will be fully open Easter weekend and can now be accessed off of the paved Prairie walk or at the end of the display gardens near conifer garden.
Lost Hollow Children’s Garden Expansion
The signature project of this spring’s renovations is the expansion of the Kimbrell Family Lost Hollow Children’s Garden. This expansion project will add nearly nine acres to the children’s garden and features a half-mile adventure trail through woods behind the existing Lost Hollow. This area features both large stands of pine forest and beautiful hardwood forests adjacent to the creek that runs through the area. Along the Adventure Trail, kids of all ages will be able to explore five nature themed outdoor “rooms” with unique interactive features in each one. At the end of the Adventure Trail, explorers will reach the Prairie Castle Playground, a three-story, accessible, wooden playground that is designed to match the dramatic medieval theme of Lost Hollow.
The Adventure Trail will be open to the public Easter weekend and the castle playground is slated to be complete in early June.
After months of hearing the beeping, buzzing and clattering of construction, we’re so excited to introduce our visitors and members to our upgraded property this spring. We’re proud to be an expansion of your backyard; a place you can spend your whole day out in nature. Grab a cup of coffee in the morning to fuel up for a hike on our trails. Stop for lunch at the new Garden Store and Café before strolling in Gardens and taking in all the spring blooms. You might bump into some live music or an interesting workshop on your adventure. Bring the kiddos to Lost Hollow for an afternoon of exploration down the Adventure Trail and into the magical world of the Prairie Castle Playground. Stop by The Farmhouse Garden Center on your way out to pick up a plant you saw in the Garden that inspired you on your walk. There are so many ways to immerse yourself in nature and its beauty on our 380-acre property this spring; you just have to find your path.
