Cleveland Botanical Garden in Ohio is a Picturesque Sight Year Round

Originally founded in 1930 as the Garden Center of Greater Cleveland, the Cleveland Botanical Garden is located in the University Circle section of the city. First housed in a converted boathouse on the Wade Park lagoon, the gardens moved to their new home in 1966 on a plot of land that once belonged to the Cleveland Zoo. The name was changed in 1994 to reflect the growing mission of the gardens, which is "grounded in the belief that quality-of-life can be improved through a better understanding of the interdependence of plants, people, and the environment.''

As part of the expansion program, the Cleveland Botanical Garden opened a new facility in 2003, designed and built by award-winning architectural company Graham Gund Associates of Cambridge, Mass. This $50 million building, dubbed the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse, is the centerpiece of the gardens and usually the first stop for most visitors. Inside the Glasshouse, guests can visit two very diverse ecosystems - the Spiny Desert of Madagascar and the Lush Rainforest of Costa Rica. This 18,000 square-foot conservatory houses a total of 350 species of exotic plants and more than 50 species of butterflies, insects, birds, reptiles and amphibians, many of which are totally foreign to the U.S. landscape. Displays inside the Glasshouse also attempt to explain how plants, animals, geology and climate interact with each other to form a delicate balance of nature. Visits to this portion of the gardens can be enjoyed all year regardless of the weather.

The remaining 10 acres of land is divided into 10 different gardens. The Campsey-Stauffer Gateway Garden can be found at the entrance to Cleveland Botanical Garden. It consists of colorful plants year long as well as a pond and waterfall and is a great place to relax. The C.K. Patrick Perennial Border highlights flowers in the perennial class and changes weekly from April through November. The Evans Restorative Garden is meant to engage all the senses while the classic Japanese Garden provides a sense of tranquility, consisting of elements from the dry landscape, tea garden, and stroll garden styles of Japanese landscaping.

The first public garden of its kind in Ohio, the Hershey Children's Garden provides a wealth of things for kids to see and do, from making their way through mazes to climbing a tree house. Kids activities are held their regularly and include mud pie making and worm composting!

Other gardens within the Cleveland Botanical Garden include the breathtakingly beautiful Sears-Swetland Rose Garden; the Swetland Topiary Garden with its unusually-shaped shrubs; the Western Reserve Herb Society herb garden, featuring 3,500 plants used for everything from flavoring food to coloring cosmetics; the Woodland Garden, a great place to find shade on a hot Cleveland day; and Geis Terrace, complete with a 74-foot-long reflecting pool and an area for al fresco dining.

The Cleveland Botanical Garden offers a series of classes and special events all year long, designed for a variety of ages. The Garden is also home to the Green Corps, a work study program for high school students who earn as they learn, transforming vacant lots into urban farms that grow a variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

Cleveland Botanical Garden is open year round with the exception of a few major holidays. There is a caf, and Garden Store on site.